HOME >NEWS >Harambe memes chase Cincinnati Zoo off Twitter, Facebook

Harambe memes chase Cincinnati Zoo off Twitter, Facebook

2025-04-26 22:35:03

It's time to give The Cincinnati Zoo a break.

It's been three months since the death of Harambe, the western lowland gorilla who was shot and killed after grabbing a 4-year-old boy and dragging him across his exhibit, but people are still bombarding The Cincinnati Zoo with harsh words, petitions and protest memes.

On Monday night, the zoo deleted its social media accounts to prove once and for all that it does not find the continual Harambe jokes amusing in the slightest.

SEE ALSO: Guys, your Harambe memes are making the Cincinnati Zoo sad

In the three months since Harambe's death, The Cincinnati Zoo has been the target of countless memes and blunt, hurtful comments related to the shooting.

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The situation escalated when the zoo's director Thane Maynard's personal Twitter account was hacked on Sunday, resulting in a number of tweets about Harambe. On Monday morning, Maynard commented on the public activity surrounding the event explaining, "We are not amused by the memes, petitions and signs about Harambe."

"The constant mention of Harambe makes moving forward more difficult for us."

"Our zoo family is still healing, and the constant mention of Harambe makes moving forward more difficult for us." he said. "We are honoring Harambe by redoubling our gorilla conservation efforts and encouraging others to join us."

Despite Maynard's plea to the people, the memes continued to roll out, and by Monday night The Cincinnati Zoo had deleted both its Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Though the accounts have been deleted, some users are still tweeting harsh messages at the zoo and there does not seem to be an end in sight to the outrage.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.