An animal caretaker who helped raise the 17-year-old gorilla that was shot dead at the Cincinnati Zoo said Sunday that he was devastated after learning of the gorilla’s death.
Jerry Stones, who took care of the male western lowland gorilla since birth, said he burst into tears upon discovering the animal was killed Saturday after it grabbed and dragged around a three-year-old boy who had fallen into its enclosure. “I admit. I’m a 74-year-old man and it tore me up inside,” he told TIME. “These are like your children. You’re with them all the time. You’re around them from the time they’re born.”
“You have very, very tender feelings for them,” he added. “It’s like if you’ve ever lost a pet, but even worse. There’s so much more because they’re intelligent. They have so many human traits. They manage to get into your heart a little bit more.”
Officials said the gorilla, named Harambe, had dragged the child around his exhibit after the boy crawled through a barrier and fell about 12 feet into the pen. The child was treated for serious but non-life threatening injuries, Cincinnati Zoo President Thane Maynard said during a news conference.
“The choice was made to put down, or shoot, Harambe, so he’s gone,” Maynard said. “We’ve never had a situation like this at the Cincinnati Zoo where a dangerous animal needed to be dispatched in an emergency situation.”
The boy was with the gorilla for about 10 minutes before zoo officials deemed the situation life-threatening.
17 Critically Endangered Species
Mountain Gorilla, Rwanda. About 880 mountain gorillas, who have thicker and more fur than other great apes, live in forests high in the mountains in the Congo Basin. They are threatened by civil conflict, poaching, and an encroaching human population. Panoramic Images/Getty ImagesLong-tailed Pangolin, D.R. Congo. Also called scaly anteaters, these solitary, primarily nocturnal animals are native to both Africa and Asia. Although all eight species of Pangolin are protected, they are valued for their meat and scales, and are often killed and sold illegally. They could possibly be the most trafficked mammal in the world. Frans Lanting—Mint Images/Getty ImagesA newly born Yangtze Finless Porpoise swims with his mother at the Hydrobiology Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Wuhan of Hubei Province, China, June 3, 2007. The Yangtze finless porpoise is the only porpoise in the world that lives in freshwater and has a level of intelligence comparable to a gorilla. Due to overfishing of their food supply, pollution, and ship movement, there are only about 1500 of them left in the wild. China Photos/Getty ImagesJavan Rhinoceros, Ujung Kulon National Park, Indonesia. After a subspecies in Vietnam was wiped out due to poaching, the entire population, about 60 individuals, of these animals can be found in one Indonesian park. Because of their low numbers, they are especially vulnerable to natural disasters, disease, and inbreeding.Stephen Belcher—Minden Pictures/Getty ImagesSumatran Orangutan, Gunung Leuser National Park, Indonesia. The approximately 7,300 remaining Sumatran orangutans live almost entirely in the treetops of tropical rain forests, only rarely traveling on the ground. As these forests are converted into oil palm plantations or burned to clear land, the orangutans are forced into an ever smaller livable habitat.Anup Shah—Minden Pictures/Getty ImagesBlack Rhinoceros, Tanzania. Rhinos are one of the oldest groups of mammals on the planet. Because of demand for rhino horn in Asia, between 1970 and 1992, 96% of Africa's remaining black rhinos were killed. Today, there are about 5,000 black rhinos left.Kevin Schafer—Getty ImagesVaquita, Northern Gulf of California. Vaquitas, a small species of porpoise, are the world's most rare marine mammal - there are thought to be under 100 individuals remaining. Nearly 1 out of every 5 vaquita are killed by gillnets used for illegally fishing another endangered sea creature, the totoaba, which is valued for its swim bladder.
NewscomSumatran Tiger, Sumatra, Indonesia. These tigers are distinguished by heavy black stripes on their orange coats. Poaching is the biggest threat to these big cats, of which only about 400 remain.Mark Newman—Lonely Planet/Getty ImagesSumatran Elephants, Gunung Leuser National Park, Sumatra, Indonesia. Over two-thirds of Sumatra's natural lowland forest has been razed, cutting this elephant's habitat by 70%. The 2,400 remaining elephants contribute to a healthy forest ecosystem by distributing seeds wherever they go.Nick Garbutt—Science Faction/Getty ImagesA captured Vu Quang Ox or Saola outside Hanoi, Vietnam, June 25, 1994. Discovered in 1992, the saola was the first large mammal new to science in more than 50 years. They are found only in the Annamite Mountains of Vietnam and Laos and have been documented in the wild four times.Claro Cortes—ReutersLeatherback Sea Turtle, Galibi National Reserve, Suriname. Leatherback turtles are named for their shell, which is leather-like rather than hard, like other turtles. They are the largest sea turtle species and one of the most migratory—they cross both the Atlantic and the Pacific on their way from the Coral Triangle to the California coast. They are threatened both by fishing, where they are often accidentally caught and killed, and by illegal trade of their eggs.
Frans Lanting—Mint Images/Getty ImagesSumatran Rhinoceros, Way Kambas National Park, Sumatra, Indonesia. These rhinos are the smallest living rhinoceroses and the only Asian rhino with two horns. Around 250 of these rhinos share a habitat with the, also endangered, Javan rhinoceros. Their biggest threat comes from poaching for their horns.Cyril Ruoso—Minden Pictures/Getty ImagesAmur Leopard, Russian Far East. A rare subspecies of leopard that has adapted to life in the temperate forests of northern Russia and China. They can run at speeds up to 37 mph and jump up to 10 ft. vertically. Due to poaching for its fur, only 60 individuals remain.Billy Currie —Getty ImagesCross River Gorilla Limbe Wildlife Center, Cameroon. Around 200 individuals of this subspecies of western gorilla live in the rugged territory between Cameroon and Nigeria. They are at risk for hunting, as enforcement of wildlife laws in these areas is often lax. Danita Delimont—NewscomHawksbill turtle, British Virgin Islands. These turtles are found throughout the world's tropical oceans, where they feed on sponges that live in crevices in coral reefs. They are most threatened by the illegal trading of their shells, which are used to make jewelry and other ornaments.Armando F. Jenik—Getty ImagesSouth China Tiger, Laohu Valley Reserve in Philippolis, South Africa on June 21, 2006. In the 1950s this species was hunted as a pest and is now considered functionally extinct. However, they can still be found in zoos and in South Africa, where there are plans to reintroduce captive-bred tigers back into the wild, as shown in the image here.Melanie Stetson Freeman—Christian Science Monitor/Getty ImagesWestern Lowland Gorilla, Bai Hokou, Dzanga Sangha Special Dense Forest Reserve, Central African Republic, Nov. 2011. These gorillas inhabit some of the most dense and remote rainforests in Africa. Because of poaching and disease, the gorilla’s numbers have declined by more than 60% over the last 20 to 25 years.Anup Shah—Getty Images
Stones, a facilities director at the Gladys Porter Zoo in Texas, said Harambe had never interacted with a child before Saturday. “That child being in that exhibit was totally foreign to him. He’s used to people, but not children,” Stones said. “We don’t know what goes through his mind anymore than what goes through my mind.”
Harambe spent about 16 years at the Gladys Porter Zoo before being moved to Cincinnati for breeding purposes in September 2014, the gorilla’s former caretaker said. “He was cute, little and playful,” he recalled. “He was an interesting little character—very intelligent and very nurturing to his brothers and sisters.”
While pained by the loss of Harambe, Stones said he understands the circumstances that led to the decision.
“I’m very, very sad to see this beautiful animal die, but at the same time you have to put the child first,” he said. “Life happens. You don’t have any control over it.”
