Hannah McNulty

He shouldn't be allowed to name anything.

Okay.

Sadly, however, it wasn't all good vibes for Harambe, and his life was tainted by tragedy early on.

On the 6th of January 2002, Harambe's mum, Kayla, half-sister Azuri and 11-month-old brother were all killed in a horrific accident at the zoo.

A tank of chlorine was left next to a space heater.

The chlorine heated up and chlorine gas was released into the gorilla enclosure.

Oh my God.

They're fucking critically endangered.

What are you doing?

The three gorillas who were trapped in their overnight cages all suffocated to death.

Harambe was also in the vicinity of the gas but amazingly was able to survive despite being just three years old.

I'm going to cry.

This is too much.

Now, even though there was obvious malpractice, the Gladys Porter Zoo only paid a small fine and Harambe stayed.

And for the next decade, he was a fixture of their gorilla enclosure.

As he grew into a healthy young silverback, the stoic gentle giant stayed a fan favourite.

And even before the events that led to his death, his picture had been taken and shared countless times.

But eventually the Gladys Porter Zoo decided that it was time for him to learn adult gorilla behaviour and join a new social group.

So in September 2014, a 15-year-old Harambe was traded to the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens.

He lived at the zoo for less than two years before he would be tragically shot and killed in front of a group of screaming onlookers.