Cincinnati Zoo returns to Twitter after taking hiatus because of Harambe abuse

The zoo still hasn’t come back to Facebook

Cincinnati Zoo patrons memorialise Harambe (John Sommers II/Getty)

Cincinnati Zoo has finally re-joined Twitter, after receiving an onslaught of abuse that forced it to delete its account for two months. And it is already getting more of it.

The zoo was the home of Harambe, the gorilla, who was shot earlier this year after a child fell into his enclosure.

And it was that event that eventually forced it off Twitter and Facebook. While it attempted to use its account to highlight other parts of the zoo, all of its post ended up being filled with replies making reference to Harambe and holding the zoo responsible.

The zoo had initially asked people politely to stop sending the messages about the dead gorilla.

“We are not amused by the memes, petitions and signs about Harambe.” zoo director Thayne Maynard told the Associated Press in August. “Our zoo family is still healing, and the constant mention of Harambe makes moving forward more difficult for us. We are honouring Harambe by redoubling our gorilla conservation efforts and encouraging others to join us.”

But that statement only provoked people into sending even more images and updates to the account. Soon after the request was made public, the zoo shut down its accounts to avoid the torrent of abuse.

The zoo and its staff were also hit by cyber attacks that saw the official account as well as personal accounts of people working there hit by hacks.

During that time, it was incredibly hard to speak to the zoo even through more direct channels. Phone calls and emails from the press went unanswered as the zoo appeared to be cutting itself off entirely.

But the zoo has now returned to Twitter, apparently having allowed the controversy to blow over. It doesn't seem to have done so, however, because every tweet the account sends out is greeted by a rush of messages about Harambe, some of which are aggressive and abusive.

It picked up from where it left off on 21 August, when its last tweet before the break was sent. None of the tweets posted this week made reference to Harambe or the fact that the zoo had left the site, and it instead simply returned to posting updates about the animals.

Zoo spokesperson Michelle Curley said that people had been attempting to pass themselves off as the official account during the time it was offline.