The 17-year-old western lowland silverback Gorilla was shot dead when a
four-year-old boy fell into his enclosure over the weekend. Zoo staff
have revealed they retrieved and have frozen the animal’s sperm so as to
give the animal ‘a future’.
Animal
rights activists have questioned the Zoo management’s security
techniques and the child’s parents over the incident but those affected
by gorillaโs death may take comfort in the zooโs admission that sperm
from Harambe had been frozen after his death, which means his โgene
poolโ will likely continue.
More than 290,000 have now signed a petition calling for ‘Justice for
Harambe’ which lays blame squarely with the child’s parents.
But Mr Maynard – who defended the zoo’s decision to shoot the gorilla –
has insisted ‘there is a future’ for Harambe because ‘it’s not the end
of his gene pool’.
Harambeโs breed is critically endangered in the wild. Their numbers have
delinced more than 60% to about 175,000 in the last quarter-century and
though Harambe was not yet mature enough to breed, his sperm was
collected after the shooting for possible reproductive use and for
research purposes.
Source : DailyMail
