#gorillini

[animalids]

Western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla)

Photo by Linda Tanner

[animalids]

Bwindi mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei)

Photo by BBC Earth

[animalids]

Western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla)

Photo by Sylvain Cordier

[dendroica]

But let’s not pretend that what happened to Harambe somehow illuminates the broader threat to gorillas as a species. Perhaps we should be more willing to investigate what caused these apparently beloved animals to reach the point of critical endangerment in the first place. Harambe was a western lowland gorilla, one of two subspecies of the western gorilla, which is on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s “Red List of Threatened Species” as critically endangered. The IUCN attributes the western gorilla’s listing there to the steep population decline (80 percent) that the species has seen over just three generations. The two main factors causing the decline: hunting and disease-induced mortality (namely, Ebola). Yes, Harambe was part of the Gorilla Species Survival Plan, a group that aims to conserve and study captive gorillas. But the survival of this species in the long run depends not on any one individual, but rather on creating a healthy population that is able to reproduce at a sustainable rate and live in habitats that provide them with reliable food sources. We should look at Harambe’s death as an unfortunate consequence of what essentially amounts to a freak accident and invest the time and money being spent mourning him into doing things that actually matter for gorilla survival. Unfortunately, these things—preserving their habitats, stopping poaching, slowing climate change—are much more difficult and complex endeavors than advocating that child protective services investigate whether the 4-year-old’s parents acted negligently.

Harambe’s death is not a reason for moral outrage. It’s an opportunity to help all gorillas.