Vigil held at Cincinnati Zoo in tribute to slain gorilla

The zoo’s director, Thane Maynard, said its dangerous-animal response team, consisting of full-time animal keepers, veterinarians and security staff, made the right call to kill the gorilla.

Western lowland gorillas are critically endangered in the wild, numbering fewer than 175,000, according to the zoo. He says the 420-pound gorilla was agitated and disoriented and acting erratically.

Zoo officials said tranquilizing the animal wasn’t an option. “We know that this was a very hard decision for them and that they are grieving the loss of their gorilla”, their statement reads.

“Not everyone shares the same opinion and that’s OK”, Mr Maynard said. “But we all share the love for animals”.

Alesia Buttrey, of Cincinnati, holds a sign with a picture of the gorilla Harambe during a vigil in his honor outside the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, Monday, May 30, 2016, in Cincinnati.

Bergamini said the staff in Cincinnati handled the situation exactly right, adding the decision to kill the gorilla likely spared a human life.

One witness said the Harambe initially seemed protective of the boy but was alarmed by the screaming.

He said killing the gorilla was the only way to protect the child. “In an agitated situation, it may take quite a while for the tranquilizer to take effect”, he said, “At the instant he would be hit, he would have a dramatic response”.

Maynard said though Harambe didn’t attack the child, the animal’s size and strength posed a great danger.

“RIP Harambe. A magnificent gorilla dies because a zoo failed to make its barriers safe”, he tweeted.

The zoo would review the barrier to see if it could be improved, he said.

A special response team shot and killed the gorilla Saturday after concluding that the life of a 4-year-old boy who had fallen into an exhibit moat was in danger.

Anthony Seta (SAY’-tuh) calls the 17-year-old endangered lowland gorilla’s death “a senseless tragedy” and says the Monday afternoon gathering is meant as a memorial to Harambe (huh-RAHM’-bay). A Facebook page called “Justice for Harambe” was created along with online petitions and another page calling for a June 5 protest at the zoo.

In an incredible show of maternal care, Binti took him right to a door so that zookeepers could retrieve him.

Her son was taken to a local hospital on Saturday evening but was not held overnight.

The boy is “doing just fine” said the family in a statement.

Villanueva, a 28-year-old mother of two, said: “I do think there’s a degree of responsibility they have to be held to”.

A Cincinnati police spokesman said there are no charges being considered.

“People can climb over barriers”.

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The zoo said that it’s the first such spectator breach at Gorilla World since it opened in 1978 and that the exhibit undergoes regular outside inspections. She said all zoos that are part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums are strictly regulated for safety measures, and that Zoo Knoxville is also regulated by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.