On May 28, 2016, a three-year-old boy visiting the zoo climbed under a fence into an outdoor gorilla enclosure where he was grabbed and violently dragged and thrown by Harambe.

The incident was recorded on video and received broad international coverage and commentary, including controversy over the choice to use lethal force.

[6] On September 18, 2014, Harambe was transferred to the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, to learn adult gorilla behavior and join a new social group.

However, the third gorilla, the inquisitive 440-pound (200 kg) male silverback, Harambe, climbed down into the moat to investigate the child splashing in the water.

[12] Harambe exhibited "strutting" behavior—walking around with legs and arms stiffly extended to appear bigger—a bluffing move, though one with inherent danger should he throw or drag the boy around too roughly.

Afraid for the boy's welfare, zoo officials made the decision to kill Harambe, doing so with a single rifle shot to the head.

[1] The incident was recorded in a dramatic video by an anonymous bystander and uploaded to YouTube, where it went viral, sparking global publicity and controversy.

[30] She gave a longer explanation in an interview with the president of the International Fund for Animal Welfare, concluding that the zoo had no choice but to kill Harambe.

"[25] Goodall said "we will never be able to be 100% sure that people and wildlife won't be injured when they are in such close proximity", and she believed that zoos "with the highest standards of care" could play an important role in the animals' well being.

[25] Zookeeper Jack Hanna strongly defended the zoo's actions, noting that a tranquilizer dart might have taken five or ten minutes to take effect and would have further aggravated Harambe.

[32] Primatologist Frans de Waal said he saw few options for the zoo: "A gorilla is so immensely strong that even with the best of intentions—and we are not sure that Harambe had those—the child's death was a probable outcome.

"[33] Ian Redmond of the Ape Alliance said there were other options that were not tried, such as showing force to bluster the gorilla to back down, or if someone known and trusted by Harambe had tried to calm him.

"[36] People magazine wrote that "Harambe continues to live on in the collective mind of the internet, entering into a rarefied state of venerated meme status.

"[37] One of the most widespread memes was noted by The Washington Post and New York magazine who observed a proliferation of over-the-top and fake tributes to Harambe.

[45][46] Cincinnati Zoo director Thane Maynard reacted negatively: "We are not amused by the memes, petitions and signs about Harambe.

The former did so on his 2016 album Jeffery, each track of which is named after one of his "idols", although the lyrics do not reference the gorilla;[55][56] the latter likens the fate of the ape to gang violence and police brutality.

[58] On June 16, 2017, satire news site The Onion featured a parody article of professional wrestler Big Show being killed by WWE after a seven-year-old boy wandered into his fight cage.