Mary Bowerman

USA TODAY Network

The grandmother of the internet-famous gorilla Harambe was humanely euthanized after years of failing health, Zoo Miami announced Wednesday.

Josephine died Wednesday afternoon after her quality of life became increasingly dismal, the zoo said in a statement.

“This morning, when Josephine could hardly move, even to reach for her favorite treat, the staff knew the right thing to do,” the zoo said in a statement. “They made the very difficult decision to humanely euthanize her.”

Josephine, 49, was born in wild and arrived at the Zoo Miami in March 1983.

She gave birth to a male gorilla named Moja in 1984. He was later moved to Gladys Porter Zoo in Texas, where he fathered several gorillas including Harambe, the Miami Herald reported.

Harambe gained worldwide attention last year when Cincinnati Zoo officials shot and killed him after a child fell into an enclosure at the zoo.

Report faults zoo's gorilla barrier in Harambe case

Not long after his death, the gorilla became an Internet sensation as people shared memes lamenting his demise. USA TODAY’s FTW blog even named him the 2016 Internet person of the year.

Many on social media pointed out that euthanizing Harambe's grandmother was just one more injustice against Harambe.

Others noted that Josephine will now join Harambe in heaven.

RIP Harambe and Josephine.

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