DHAKA: The killing of a gorilla at a zoo in the US city of Cincinnati after a four-year-old boy fell into its enclosure has prompted anger on social media.

Many said that male gorilla Harambe should not have been shot dead as he did not intend to hurt the boy, BBC reports on Monday (May 30).

Moreover, some used the hash tag saying #JusticeForHarambe.

Others said the parents should be held responsible for not looking after their child during Saturday’s incident.

Earlier, the Zoo officials shot dead the gorilla after he grabbed and dragged the boy.

The zoo said it had taken this action against the 180kg gorilla as the situation was ‘life-threatening’.

Twitter user StrayanRepublic, wrote: ‘#HARAMBE wasn't dragging him to kill him... he was protecting the child from the threat of screaming tourists. @Xoxjlove @CincinnatiZoo.’

Kenz, another user, posted this message: ‘#JusticeForHarambe it’s so sad that an endangered animal had to be put down because of careless parenting.’

More than 60,000 people have also signed a special petition, calling for the boy’s parents to ‘be held accountable for the lack of supervision and negligence that caused Harambe to lose his life’.

BDST: 1621 HRS, May 30, 2016
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** Zoo gorilla shot dead to save a boy