And in some strange way, Twitter and Facebook‘s most irony-addled users appeared to be in genuine mourning. The more Harambe memes we got, the more they took on an elegiac tone that cut through any humor. By exaggerating Harambe’s importance, these people paid their respects to the late great ape the only way they knew how—with extreme sarcasm.

I think it is touching that after 2016 AD they are going to start over with 1 AH – After Harambe. — Bernie Sanders 2020 (@hamsandcastle) June 22, 2016

https://twitter.com/BASEDJESUS/status/745911171228770304

https://twitter.com/RyanPucc/status/745594076985180160

The latest stage of grief calls for immortalizing Harambe in parody song.

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https://twitter.com/Jgraf96/status/746015216744431618

https://twitter.com/DougExeter/status/746039855210201089

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https://twitter.com/libbycwatson/status/746024974998077440

harambe matata

what a wonderful ape

harambe matata

shot you in your cage — leon (@leyawn) June 18, 2016

https://twitter.com/hungerlordjr/status/746065978694336516

I'm a little off-key b/c I'm making an ass out of myself in front of Oakland City Hall but here goes: pic.twitter.com/8k50zfpwgC — Christina Toms (@ChristinaToms) June 23, 2016

But the beauty of Harambe content, in this reporter’s humble opinion, is that it’s endlessly adaptive and surprising. You’re scrolling through Twitter on the toilet one afternoon and then, suddenly, boom: Harambe.

https://twitter.com/StuntBirdArmy/status/744578840194842624

https://twitter.com/hyped_resonance/status/744204741362737154

https://twitter.com/nickmullen/status/743652621299421184

little known fact about harambe is that he's the first gorilla to go platinum with no features in 25 years — aNSH (@anshvp) June 14, 2016

My daughter will be named "RIP"

And my son will be named "Harambe" — Dilpreet Raju (@KangarooRaju) June 14, 2016

At this point, it’s impossible to deny: We just can’t let Harambe go. How is it that despite not knowing about him until he was murdered we feel such strong kinship with this noble beast? Perhaps our collective, performative “heartache” provides a commentary about the sheer absurdity of an entire nation (with bigger problems to worry about) wringing their hands over an unfortunate zoo accident. Maybe, as with outrage over Cecil the lion, who was killed by an American hunter, we’re mocking the virality of injustice against exotic animals, which does little to curb such mistreatment.

https://twitter.com/ByYourLogic/status/743923921385299969

Just took 93yr Gran to vote, she's registered blind. In a loud voice she said 'Cecil the Lion was a nonce'. A cheer went up from voters — Lee (@Cybershmuck) June 23, 2016

harambe. this jaguar. cecil the lion. david bowie. the greatest band ever is playing heaven right now https://t.co/hgT4lGTRHg — thomas violence (@thomas_violence) June 22, 2016

That would certainly be the nihilistic read, anyway. Yet I see a larger, better force at work. In an age of refreshable news feeds and #trends, we can’t help but see how helpless we are to turn the tide of cruelty and pain. We cannot log on each morning without absorbing a poison dose of unexpected horror. By clinging to stories like Harambe’s—and even making light of it—we try to mark where we stood and what we endured in the toxic whirlpool of public opinion. Just as our parents remember watching man land on the moon, we will never forget the afternoon the internet was utterly consumed by the execution of a gorilla. And we have been scarred for life.

https://twitter.com/abuzzerio_/status/746063499164549120

So don’t write Harambe memes off as callous punchlines. Nobody really wanted him dead; we are simply trying to make sense of his senseless life. Though we couldn’t save him, we can revere him—and celebrate him. And, if nothing else, we can try to atone as a species.

https://twitter.com/elserracho/status/744170830607769600

RIP, Harambe.