“We Are Not Amused By The Memes”: Cincinnati Zoo Wants You To Stop Joking About Harambe

Remember Harambe (the gorilla who died)? Silly question, we know.

Trouble is, the Cincinnati Zoo isn’t being allowed to forget about the time they shot the silverback to death after a small boy fell into his closure back in May.

Though the death of Harambe was initially met with rage – directed at both the zoo and the parents of the child – it has since become one of 2016’s most enduring online gags (three months is a long time on the internet).

Besides the frequent, ubiquitous memes, Harambe has been spotted on electoral ballots, in murals and within the infinite expanse of No Man’s Sky. And the Cincinnati Zoo isn’t loving it.

The tipping point came over the weekend, when the zoo’s director, Thane Maynard, saw his Twitter account hacked. What was the essential message the hacker needed to Tweet from Maynard’s account, you ask? "#D****OutForHarambe," of course.

In an email to the AP, Maynard has said “we are not amused by the memes, petitions and signs about Harambe.”

“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.”

You can imagine how the internet reacted. The Cincinnati Zoo's Twitter account has since been deactivated.

Photo: Cincinnati Zoo.