Martin Shkreli has refused to stop making memes of Harambe, the gorilla who died, and called on other people to join him in continuing to do so.
The infamous businessman and pharmaceutical executive – who has in recent weeks called for Harambe’s DNA to be used to resurrect the gorilla – said that he will refuse to comply with the Cincinnati Zoo’s request for the joke to come to an end.
Harambe was killed at the end of May, when a zoo worker shot the gorilla because they were worried that he would kill a child that had fallen into his enclosure.
The zoo had asked that people on the internet stop making jokes because it was making it difficult for them to move on.
"We are not amused by the memes, petitions and signs about Harambe," Thane Maynard, Cincinnati Zoo director, told the Associated Press. "Our zoo family is still healing, and the constant mention of Harambe makes moving forward more difficult for us. We are honoring Harambe by redoubling our gorilla conservation efforts and encouraging others to join us."
But Mr Shkreli has refused to give up on “memeing” the gorilla and says that doing so serves an important purpose.
“I have a profound love for non-human primates that is 100% real & 0% facetious,” he wrote in a string of tweets. “These animals are so close to human & we treat them poorly.
“So if we want to celebrate the life of Harambe, as a symbolic gesture towards better NHP-Human relations, what is wrong with that?”
It was his final tweet, though, that was the most vociferous response to the Cincinnati Zoo’s request.
As well as his efforts to bring the gorilla – or a clone of him – back to life through DNA sequencing, Mr Shkreli has been one of the most prominent people creating and spreading Harambe memes.
