ShortList is supported by you, our amazing readers. When you click through the links on our site and make a purchase we may earn a commission. Learn more

Have we been pranked on Harambe McHarambeface?

We should've known it was too good to be true

Have we been pranked on Harambe McHarambeface?
14 September 2016

You may have read in the news recently that a contest held by Jinhua Zoo to name a baby Gorilla was won with a majority vote of 93% by the good people of the internet who, as per usual, had a funny idea.

In scenes inspired by the ‘Boaty McBoatface’ debacle, the people of the web decided that this baby Gorilla’s name should be Harambe McHarambeface, in tribute to the late, great Harambe – a Gorilla from Cincinnati Zoo who was shot after a child fell into his enclosure.

Since his death Harambe has become something of an internet legend and his legacy has been cemented as a popular meme.

Jinhua Zoo were reported to have given the young ape the name Harambe McHarambeface as his English name but that (unsurprisingly) it would be impossible to translate into Chinese.

A victory for the internet it would seem - but unfortunately Chinese media have since released information suggesting that there isn’t a gorilla at this particular zoo at all. In addition, the 'Boston Leader', which originally broke the story and claims to have been bringing you Boston's best news since 1932, yet only set its website up last week.

So unfortunately it would appear that we’ve all been having our leg pulled. A sorry state of affairs.