If you had not been on the internet in 2016, you wouldn’t have heard about the Harambe story.
A gorilla that was shot and killed at the Cincinnati Zoo back in 2016 received a heartfelt tribute from the White House on what would have been his 27th birthday.
The White House honored him while sharing a tribute on the official White House account on X (formerly Twitter), calling him “a true patriot.”
The statement added, “an icon that became part of internal history, American culture, and an entire generation’s timeline.
“He became a symbol of loyalty, strength, chaos, unity, and the strange beauty of the internet.”
It echoes the netizens’ voice, continuing, “He became a symbol of loyalty, strength, chaos, unity, and the strange beauty of the internet bringing millions of people together for one cause: never forgetting Harambe.”
The heart touching tribute ended with “gone, but never forgotten. Rest easy.”
The most powerful house in the world is celebrating a gorilla who was murdered in broad daylight at a zoo in Cincinnati a decade later, it hits differently with the netizens.
Harambe has truly become a cultural staple, an icon and a depiction of an entire American generation’s timeline.
For the unversed, ten years ago on May 28, a 17-year-old western lowland gorilla named Harambe was killed after a three-year-old teen scaled up into his enclosure.
Then what followed has become part of the history.
A zoo worker, fearing for the child’s life, opened fire at the silverback gorilla, Harambe that left the nation shocked.
The incident sparked global outrage, with netizens paying tribute with memes and songs to the late gorilla.
2026-05-28 10:36:00
