Cincinnati zoo calls for an end to Harambe memes

Ever since a Cincinnati zookeeper gunned down the captive gorilla named Harambe on May 28, 2016, to save a child who fell in his cage and had been dragged around by the mammal, petitions, memes and signs for the deceased animal flooded the internet.  

The issue originally caused debate on the reality of animal rights, whether apes should still be held in captivity or not, and whether Harambe should have been shot in the first place. On social media, these debates amused some and stirred discontent in others. Petitions surfaced, going from calling for justice for Harambe to requesting tributes to the primate like turning him into a Pokémon or even including his face on Mount Rushmore.

The incident grew so popular that even rappers Young Thug and Dumbfoundead wrote songs named after the glorified mammal. Going even further, conspiracy theories arose suggesting that former president George W. Bush or even presidential candidate Hillary Clinton were behind Harambe’s death; these theories have yet to be proven.

In late August of this year, the Cincinnati zoo family, still recuperating from the loss, responded to the overflow of memes by calling for an end to the jokes pertaining to Harambe. The zoo officials find them of bad taste and not a good way to remember the incident. They encourage people instead to help the zoo redouble gorilla conservation to honor the deceased ape.

“Harambe’s death shocked America and I believe that by attempting to shut us up the Cincinnati zoo is white-washing the past,” junior Moaz Selim said.

A Cincinnati zookeeper’s twitter account got hacked by a claimed “Harambe-fan” who changed his profile picture to one of the famous memes, tweeting #justiceforharambe. The account was later deactivated.

“Personally I don’t see the harm in the [Harambe] memes,” Airra Durangparang said. “It’s a way to catch the public’s attention and push it to educate itself on the real matter: the unnecessary killing of Harambe.”