THE hashtag #Harambe has been trending on social media over the last few days after a scarring incident at Cincinnati Zoo. Zookeepers shot and killed a rare gorilla on Saturday after a three-year-old boy slipped into its enclosure at the zoo.
The brief encounter was captured on video and sparked widespread internet outrage over the decision to shoot Harambe and whether the child’s parents were to blame for failing to look after him.
A petition has now been launched, urging police and zoo authorities to hold the parents of the child responsible for the ‘senseless death’. The petition was launched on Sunday and within an hour had almost 2 000 signatures. A Facebook page, Justice for Harambe, was also started.
Here are some tweets about the incident:
It's the zoo's fault for not having a child-proof enclosure & parent's fault for not watching the kid. Critically endangered RIP Harambe. ????
— Mikey Bustos (@MikeyBustos) May 31, 2016
you can be sympathetic towards both the child + his family, and harambe!!!! it was horrifying all around. just saying
— ★彡 (@madisenkuhn) May 31, 2016
A makeshift memorial at Vine and Erkenbrecker for Harambe as vigil comes to a close pic.twitter.com/8shICvcVpD
— John London (@JohnLondonWLWT) May 30, 2016
Correct response? "I can't believe to say how sorry I am. And I grieve for Harambe. I am donating and volunteering at the zoo for a year"
— A.J. Delgado (@AJDelgado13) May 30, 2016
https://twitter.com/peddoc63/status/737324843570483200
RIP ???? Beautiful #Harambe shot dead, because @CincinnatiZoo failed to make its barriers safe. https://t.co/SpGW8t9On7 pic.twitter.com/SG8gGjOzAk
— Leandri Janse van Vuuren (@Lean3JvV) May 30, 2016
What makes all of this worse is that Harambe wasn't being aggressive. At all. I hope those parents get prosecuted. #justiceforharambe
— Valentina Cano Repetto (@valca85) May 30, 2016
Seriously though, was it really necessary to kill Harambe? surely there were less cruel ways to get the kid away. #JusticeForHarambe
— Jaye ♡ (@jayechantelle) May 30, 2016
