Celebrities Express Outrage Over Killing of Harambe the Gorilla

Numerous celebrities have spoken out after a 17-year-old western lowland gorilla named Harambe was fatally shot Saturday to protect a child who fell into the animal’s Cincinnati Zoo enclosure. 

The killing has sparked a debate around the world as to who is to blame for gorilla’s death. 

“We are heartbroken about losing Harambe, but a child’s life was in danger and a quick decision had to be made by our Dangerous Animal Response Team,” zoo director Thane Maynard said in a statement. 

It appears two sides have formed, those who blame the parents for apparently not watching the child close enough and those who blame the zoo for the area being accessible at all to patrons. 

Below are celebrity reactions to the incident: 

It seems that some gorillas make better parents than some people.

— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) May 29, 2016

Oh the poor gorilla,he did nothing wrong,if you watch the video,so sad..as a mother I would’ve jumped in too.

— Lisa Vanderpump (@LisaVanderpump) May 30, 2016

If you leave your kid in a car you go to jail, if you let your kid fall into a Gorilla Enclosure u should too! #TeamDl

— DL Hughley (@RealDLHughley) May 30, 2016

It saddens me to no end that a gorilla had to be put down because of an irresponsible parent. However you look at it, that’s just sad.

— Katee Sackhoff (@kateesackhoff) May 30, 2016

If I ever let my toddler fall into a gorilla enclosure please leave the gorilla alone and just shoot me.

— John Fugelsang (@JohnFugelsang) May 29, 2016

Taking their eye off the ball, but no child should ever be able to crawl into a gorilla compound. https://t.co/intjxDvUqk

— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) May 29, 2016

How was the gorilla enclosure not child proof? You’re dealing with an endangered species & yet you’ve made it possible for kids to fall in?

— Zelda Williams (@zeldawilliams) May 29, 2016

For the record, the parents are absolutely partially at fault, but it shouldn’t have been possible, unsupervised or otherwise.

— Zelda Williams (@zeldawilliams) May 29, 2016

Below is the full statement from the Cincinnati Zoo on the death of the gorilla: