Harambe killing
Flowers lay around a bronze statue of a gorilla and her baby outside the Cincinnati Zoo's Gorilla World exhibit, two days after a boy tumbled into its moat and officials were forced to kill Harambe, a Western lowland gorilla, in Cincinnati, May 30, 2016. REUTERS/William Philpott

On the year anniversary of the controversial death of Harambe — the gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden who was killed May 28, 2016 — Twitter users flooded social media with memes and hashtags using his name. The pop culture references alluded to everything from his social media deification to U.S. President Donald Trump.

In May of last year, a 3-year-old boy accidentally fell into the enclosure of 17-year-old gorilla Harambe. A zoo keeper fatally shot the 400-pound gorilla out of fear for the boy’s life after Harambe was observed dragging the child. The killing sparked international outrage, some of which was still present on social media a year after his death.

“A year ago a legend died,” wrote Javier16902243 Sunday in a tweet that included multiple photos of the gorilla.

Twitter user DylansFreshTake wrote, “One year ago today we lost Harambe. He would've been 18 today. Hard to believe it's already been a year.”

Read: Full Video Of Gorilla With Boy At Cincinnati Zoo Before Harambe Was Killed; Michelle Gregg Responds

Scores of others took to social media to share Harambe memes as well — though the tone was significantly lighter in some social media posts Sunday than in others.

After video of the gorilla interacting with the boy in his enclosure made its way to social media last year, an international conversation ensued about whether the killing was ethical. Many animal rights activists felt the killing was unnecessary, with some blaming the child’s mother for failing to monitor her son.

After the palpable rage over his killing had simmered, Harambe’s legacy seemingly took on a life of its own. He was immortalized in a younger generation of animals who were given his name; he became the subject of elaborate promposals across the nation; he was a presidential nomination among a demographic of mostly grade school youngsters; and perhaps most inexplicably, he helped a Cheeto resembling his likeness sell for $100,000 on eBay. Needless to say, Harambe will not easily be forgotten.

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