Cincinnati Zoo’s Twitter account goes dark after becoming target of Harambe trolls

The Cincinnati Zoo’s official Twitter account went offline Monday evening amid an ongoing social media onslaught spurred by the recent killing of one of its animals, Harambe the gorilla.

Harambe, a 17-year-old great ape, was fatally shot by zookeepers after a 3-year-old boy slipped and fell into the zoo’s Gorilla World exhibit on May 28. In the three months since the animal’s death, the zoo’s social media profiles have been a lightning rod for the scorn of animal rights activists and internet trolls alike.

Although zoo officials did not immediately offer specifics about why it closed its widely-followed Twitter account, its director told The Associated Press hours earlier that the incessant online taunting isn’t welcomed by those who were close to the ape.

“We are not amused by the memes, petitions and signs about Harambe,” Thane Maynard, Cincinnati Zoo director, said in an email to AP published shortly before the Twitter account was deactivated.

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

Social media users have kept the gorilla’s legacy alive in the months since through memes and other efforts, well-intended or otherwise. Mr. Maynard experienced this firsthand Sunday evening when his Twitter account was taken over by someone who replaced his profile picture with one of Harambe.

“There is a word we like to use in our discipline, in pop culture studies, and that is ’polysemic’: has many meanings,” Jeremy Wallach, a professor of popular culture at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, told the AP. “Harambe definitely is that, a sign that possesses many different interpretations.”

Predictably, the sudden disappearance of the zoo’s Twitter account didn’t go unnoticed on social media.

“@CincinnatiZoo deleted their Twitter just like they deleted Harambe,” responded Twitter user @Joshhpointoo.

“[T]his reminds me of the time they deactivated that mighty gorilla known to friends as harambe,” tweeted another.

The zoo did not immediately respond Tuesday to the AP’s requests for comment.