Fresno Grizzlies Offer ‘Bats For Harambe’

Sunday, May 28, marks the one-year anniversary of the death of Harambe, a Western lowland gorilla who was shot and killed by a Cincinnati Zoo worker who feared for the safety of a three-year-old boy who fell into the gorilla’s enclosure.

The incident was the subject of massive coverage nationally and internationally, and was a cause celebre about whether the boy was in danger and whether the decision to shoot Harambe was the correct one.

To mark the date, the Fresno Grizzlies have come up with promotion as an homage. On Sunday, the team will sell special edition miniature bats emblazoned with a “Bats for Harambe” logo. Proceeds from the sales of the $20 bat will go to the Harambe Fund at the Gladys Porter Zoo, where the gorilla was born and raised. The zoo will then transfer the funds to Mbeli Bai Study, which is located in the Congo, and aims to help preserve Western lowland gorillas and their habitats.

Harambe is gone, but the Grizzlies’ promotion will help use his memory as a springboard for research that will help other gorillas around the globe.