CINCINNATI -- No, the Cincinnati Zoo is not back on Twitter.
A fake account pretending to release new statements from zoo officials this week is not real. Not even a little bit.
"This is a fake account pretending to be us," zoo communications director Michelle Curley said.
The account may look like @CINCINNATIZOO at first glance -- but it's actually @cincLnnatLzoo. The internet trolls pretending to be the zoo, as you can see, just swapped the "I"s in Cincinnati with "L"s.
On this fake page, they are posting fake statements. Like this one:
Our social media team has decided to start fresh, thank you for supporting the Cincinnati Zoo family during this time.
— Cincinnati Zoo (@CINClNNATlZOO) August 24, 2016
And this one:
We started this new account because after Director Maynard's Twitter was hacked, we could not know if our security had been compromised.
— Cincinnati Zoo (@CINClNNATlZOO) August 25, 2016
Yes, these are both fake.
These statements are not coming from the zoo. If you follow this account, you are following a fake account created by people who most likely were involved in the zoo deleting their Twitter account in the first place.
The zoo's social media team deactivated their actual Twitter account Monday night after the zoo's director pleaded with the public to stop spamming them with Harambe memes.
"We are not amused by the memes, petitions and signs about Harambe," Thane Maynard, Cincinnati Zoo director, told the Associated Press at the time.
Maynard's personal Twitter account was hacked Sunday and briefly used to tweet out Harambe-inspired memes and jabs.
"Our zoo family is still healing, and the constant mention of Harambe makes moving forward more difficult for us," Maynard said. "We are honoring Harambe by redoubling our gorilla conservation efforts and encouraging others to join us."
So don't forget, this is a fake account. When the zoo decides to return to Twitter, WCPO will let you know.
