Unlike the gorilla, Harambe’s legacy will never die.
The western lowland gorilla, who lived at the Cincinnati Zoo, became an internet phenomenon after a child fell into his enclosure and zoo officials were subsequently forced to shoot Harambe to protect the child.
Since then, the memes and Harambe jokes still seem to pop up every once in awhile from folks who are still mourning the loss of our gorilla king.
And now it looks like one bridge in South Carolina is stuck with serving as a memorial for the fallen gorilla after internet pranksters took to Google Maps to rename the still-under-construction bridge in Mauldin, South Carolina after Harambe.
The pedestrian bridge over Interstate 385 isn’t quite finished yet, but somebody has already taken it upon themselves to name the bridge the “Harambe Memorial Bridge” on Google Maps. And the community has rallied around the new name, erecting a memorial to Harambe at the bridge complete with pictures of the gorilla, stuffed animals, flowers and candles – along with a cigarette and a can of PBR.
Just like Harambe would have wanted.
Unfortunately, it seems like the name isn’t going to stick for the bridge crossing the Golden Strip Freeway. Officials say that the memorial will be taken down once the bridge is completed, and a name change request will be submitted to Google once an official name has been chosen.
The city is accepting submissions to name the new overpass, and staff recommendations include Mauldin SkyWay, Mauldin Archway, Mauldin Highway Overpass, Mauldin Gateway Bridge, and Mauldin’s Palmetto Pathway.
Which are all terrible names compared to the “Harambe Memorial Bridge.”
