Gladys Porter Zoo facilities director Jerry Stones speaks to members of the media about his memory of Harambe.(Photo: Jason Hoekema/The Brownsville Herald via AP)
CINCINNATI —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Jerry Stones cut Harambe's
umbilical cord when he was born. He<span style="color: Red;">*</span>spent more time with the slain 17-year-old silverback gorilla than anyone else.
Stones, the facilities director at the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, Texas, was Harambe’s caretaker for 15 years before the gorilla was transferred to the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden in the hopes of breeding<span style="color: Red;">*</span>gorillas to raise the population of the critically endangered species.
“He was like one of my sons. He was beautiful and a true character — so mischievous and not aggressive. He would throw water on the female keepers before running back and hiding in the back of his exhibit like, ‘Ha, ha, I got you.’ He would take a keeper’s blanket and just run off. Very fun loving and so intelligent,” said the 74-year-old Stones.
“When he was<span style="color: Red;">*</span>very young, only 20 pounds, we’d take him to this grassy area with glass walls. He would climb the walls and try to escape, but the keepers would, of course, bring him down every time. Harambe was smart, he realized this was a game. If he climbed the wall and they didn’t rush over, he’d give them a look like, ‘Come get me.’ Or, he’d clap his hands and fall backwards so they’d catch him,” he said of the 450-pound silverback.
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“One time, we gave Harambe a stick that was too long. He ate the leaves, ate the bark, and then climbed to the top of the exhibit and put out all the lights in the exhibit,” he said.
While Stones r
