By now you've heard Harambe's story, you've decided how you felt about the tragic incident, and you're upset regardless of your opinion. Just as you were getting ready to move on, the man who named Harambe wrote for CNN explaining what the gorilla's name means and how deeply Harambe's death affected him.

Dan Van Coppenolle was a special education teacher when he entered a baby gorilla naming contest in 1999, he explained. He'd just been listening to the Rita Marley song "Harambe" on the treadmill and paused when she explained what the word meant: In Swahili, Harambe means "working together, pulling together, helping each other, caring, and sharing." Though his first thought was that it was a beautiful word he wanted to share with his students, he also knew it would be the perfect name for the gorilla.

He was right: Harambe was chosen and Von Coppenolle took his sons and nephews often to the Gladys Porter Zoo in Texas where the gorilla spent the first 15 years of his life. They visited so often and "the family was so fond of Harambe that he was affectionately referred to as my adopted son," Von Coppenolle wrote.

He explained he was sad to hear Harambe had eventually been transferred to Cincinnati and even sadder to hear about his death, but he believes "Harambe's name — and even his death — can serve as a lesson for all of us." He hopes the gorilla's name will forever serve as a reminder to humans (who "have become distant from nature, and increasingly from each other") to work together in times of sadness.

You can read Von Coppenolle's lovely essay in full on CNN and donate to the Harambe Fund here.

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Tess Koman Senior Editor Tess Koman covers breaking (food) news, opinion pieces, and features on larger happenings in the food world.

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