‘Harambe’ lives on as emoji in Apple’s iOS 10.2 update

Good news, internet. Harambe might be making a triumphant return to your Apple mobile device in the form of an emoji.

Although many Apple mobile users currently run iOS 10.1, version 10.2 is just around the corner. And with it, comes a slew of new emoji.

72 emoji are included in Apple’s latest developer preview build of iOS, with male and female counterparts providing the bulk of the new items. But one particular emoji is causing a bit of a stir on the internet.

If iOS 10 doesn’t have a Harambe emoji I’m going to be so disappointed.

— Harambe (@_The_Harambe) September 12, 2016

If the new facepalm, fox or fingers crossed emoji are too out-of-the-loop for you, Apple is including a gorilla emoji. And already, the gorilla is being likened to Harambe. The now infamous gorilla, who was shot and killed at Cincinnati Zoo after a child fell into his enclosure, became an internet meme in the wake of the incident.

We imagine that this is exactly what the internet wanted for Christmas: an Harambe emoji

Once users gained word of the emoji’s inclusion in iOS 10.2, Twitter users couldn’t help but express their joy.

So we are getting a Harambe emoji??? What a time to be alive! #ios #toosoon?

— Chris Mercadante (@Mercbg2k) November 2, 2016

Yo they added my boy Harambe in the new ios beta update pic.twitter.com/JTKv1WrfS9

— Grandma (@ImBaileh) November 2, 2016

Not forgetting the other cultural phenomena currently setting the internet and law enforcement officials on high alert, Apple has also seemingly included a creepy clown emoji.

This isn’t the first time Apple has caused a stir in the emoji world. Back in August 2016, the company announced that it would be replacing the long-standing revolver emoji with a water pistol.

Apple replaces revolver with water gun, highlights new emoji coming to iOS 10

While Google may have been leading the charge for more inclusive emoji in its operating systems, it’s Apple that has beat everyone to actually including them. The company this week announced that “more than one hundred new and redesigned emoji characters will be available to iPhone and iPad users this fall with iOS 10”. Read more…

Apple hasn’t actually called these emoji “Harambe” or “creepy clown”, but the likeness to both is pretty uncanny. Isn’t it?