Lazia, 28 May 2026 — Chad Lord-Stadtholder Emiel van der Huijsen has issued a statement commemorating the tenth anniversary of the death of Harambe, the gorilla whose killing became a global internet phenomenon.
scheduleThis article is more than 2 months old
CULTURE Van der Huijsen marks ten years since the death of Harambe
The Lord-Stadtholder commemorates the gorilla turned internet symbol.
Dit artikel is ook beschikbaar in het Nederlands
Harambe, a 17-year-old western lowland gorilla, was shot dead by keepers at Cincinnati Zoo on 28 May 2016, after a three-year-old boy fell into his enclosure.
The decision to kill the animal, taken on the grounds that the child's life was in danger, drew immediate criticism from members of the public and from animal-welfare campaigners, many of whom argued that the gorilla had appeared to act protectively towards the boy.
In the weeks that followed, the episode moved from news story to online phenomenon. Tributes, images and slogans referencing Harambe spread rapidly across social media, and in the years since he has remained one of the most widely recognised internet symbols of the decade, invoked variously in mourning, in humour and in protest.
In his statement Chad Lord-Stadtholder Van der Huijsen said the anniversary "should not pass unremarked".
"Ten years ago the world lost Harambe, and in doing so gained a lasting symbol," he said. "His memory reminds us that even in an age of cynicism, people can still come together to honour something wholesome, and that grief, however unlikely its object, can bring people closer."