Donations to a gorilla conservation fund increased over the weekend after a meme spread through the subreddit r / WallStreetBets, which resulted in the symbolic adoption of animals en masse by its members.
The community, which has more than nine million members on Monday, is typically dedicated to financial trading and was at the center of a stock market frenzy in January, which poured money into GameStop and other companies in an attempt to disrupt funds hedge and sell sellers.
Since Saturday, users have been putting their money into another cause: The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International. It has received more than $ 265,000 members since Saturday, a spokesman said Newsweek.
The institution’s website says it is dedicated to “protecting and studying gorillas and their habitats in Africa” and allows people to symbolically adopt animals to raise funds. In return, donors receive an adoption certificate that shows their name – a gift that has become central to the meme.
On Saturday, air user / WallStreetBets started the trend after sharing an image of a gorilla adopted under the donor name “GameStop”. Since then, it has attracted more than 2,000 comments in the community.
Others followed, with the common link being the Dian Fossey fund. Another user adopted the same mountain gorilla under the name “GME”, which is the symbol of GameStop’s stock market. It’s a snowball from there.
Topics now include: “I like this trend. Come on, my fellow monkeys, let’s buy them a rainforest”, “Inspired by the rest of the subreddit, I adopted a Gorilla”, “I see that we are adopting gorillas now. low “and” Give credit where credit is due … The monkey is taken care of because of you. “
As reported by Gizmodo, a user donated under the name “F *** Melvin Capital”, which was a reference to a targeted hedge fund.
The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund said in a tweet on Sunday that it raised $ 77,000 that day and specifically thanked r / WallStreetBets.
A video praising the adoptions and donations was posted on the subreddit over the weekend by the fund’s president and CEO, Dr. Tara Stoinski.
She said: “I have just been informed that you have adopted gorillas on our website and I just wanted to say thank you for that incredible support … it will help a lot in our important mission.”
Thousands of r / WallStreetBets users responded. The main comment says, “Lol, if the GME reaches 10,000, the gorillas are getting off the list of endangered animals, for sure.”
A statement attributed to Dr. Stoinski sent to Newsweek on Monday, read: “The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund is surprised, thrilled and grateful for the grassroots donations that came to us thanks to a group of investors on Reddit. In one weekend, they donated more than $ 200,000, mainly through our symbolic adoption of the gorilla program.
“We have individual donors who donate us year after year, because they know that we must be responsible for the care of their donations … We thank these new donors for their contributions to the success of our mission – because by saving gorillas, we save the planet. “
ISAAC KASAMANI / AFP / Getty Images