Harambe the gorilla died in 2016, sparking a major internet meme.
Harambe was a male western lowland gorilla born on May 27, 1999, at Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, Texas. He moved to the Cincinnati Zoo in 2014. On May 28, 2016, a three-year-old boy entered the zoo’s gorilla enclosure. Harambe grabbed and dragged the child, and zoo staff shot the gorilla because they feared the boy was in immediate danger.
Video of the incident spread worldwide, producing intense debate about zoo safety, parental responsibility, animal welfare, and whether lethal force was necessary. The controversy quickly became internet culture: “Dicks out for Harambe,” absurd tributes, mock political campaigns, songs, and other memes turned the gorilla into a lasting online symbol.
The year is sometimes confused with 2017 because Harambe memes remained prominent long after his death. However, both his death and the event that generated the meme occurred in 2016—one day after his seventeenth birthday.