The rise of Harambe the gorilla is absolutely one of the more baffling exports of internet culture over the past few years. The gorilla, who was shot dead by employees of Cincinnati Zoo after a child fell into his enclosure, has found new life after people online decided that the concept of a noble gorilla being murked is inherently funny.
Here is one of the earliest artefacts, tweeted at me only days after the gorilla’s death. A pioneer in the field of Harambe jokes.
@jrhennessy [to kokomo] harambe, gorilla, ooh I wanna kill ya / got a rifle, a bullet, come on let me pull it
— brendle (@brendlewhat) June 8, 2016
But as you might imagine, having to kill one of their gorillas was not a particularly invigorating or funny experience for the employees of Cincinnati Zoo. They find the memes quite offensive, actually.
“We are not amused by the memes, petitions and signs about Harambe,” Thane Maynard, Cincinnati Zoo director, told the AP. “Our zoo family is still healing, and the constant mention of Harambe makes moving forward more difficult for us. We are honoring Harambe by redoubling our gorilla conservation efforts and encouraging others to join us.”
WE ARE NOT AMUSED BY THE MEMES is absolutely one of those sentences that will do nothing but ensure that further memes are produced and that they are produced more aggressively.
I’m sorry to the good folk of Cincinnati Zoo. This has persisted for several months and I see no end in sight.
