Jane Goodall Says Gorilla Harambe ‘Was Putting an Arm Round’ the Boy That Fell in Gorilla Pit

Jane Goodall wrote an email to the Cincinnati Zoo director, Thane Maynard, on May 31 saying she believed the gorilla may have been protecting the boy who fell into the animal’s exhibit.

UN peace messenger and British primatologist Jane Goodall, the world's famous authority on chimpanzees, waits for a meeting with a gorilla family in front of a window at the Zoo Park and Botanic Garden in Budapest on February 11, 2008 during her visit to Hungarian capital. Attila Kisbenedek/AFP/Getty Images

One of the world’s most famed primatologists, Jane Goodall, said Harambe, the gorilla who was shot and killed after a child fell into the animal exhibit, was protecting the child.

Goodall wrote an email to the Cincinnati Zoo director Thane Maynard on May 31. She said she believed the gorilla may have been protecting the boy who fell into the animal’s exhibit.

READ MORE

• Animal Behavior Expert Says Screaming Crowd Likely Caused Gorilla to Drag Child