About

Pittsburgh Zoo and Boston Zoo Gorilla Trade refers to memes about a trade between the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium and Boston's Franklin Park Zoo, in which Pittsburgh traded a 7-year-old western lowland gorilla named Frankie for a 33-year-old silverback gorilla named Little Joe. The trade was reported on May 14th, 2026, and went viral on social media over the following days as people likened the news to a sports trade. It inspired memes on sites like X / Twitter, TikTok and Bluesky over the following days, where people overreact and react in funny ways to news of the trade.

Origin

On May 14th, 2026, it was reported that the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium and Boston's Franklin Park Zoo were set to trade a 7-year-old western lowland gorilla named Frankie and a 33-year-old silverback gorilla named Little Joe, with Pittsburgh receiving Little Joe and Boston receiving Frankie.^[1]

According to a report by CBS News, the trade was made to "ensure that critically endangered gorillas in human care maintain a healthy and genetically diverse population."

The news went viral that day as it was reposted and shared on social media. For example, that day, X^[2] user @mgswift7 made a post about the trade, garnering over 8,100 likes and 1,600 reposts in a day.

Spread

The news of the gorilla trades inspired memes in mid-May 2026 comparing the trade to a sports trade.

For example, on May 14th, 2026, Bluesky^[3] user ryansimmons posted a graphic that depicts the trade as a sports trade, garnering over 4,500 likes in a day.

Various Examples

@hoopervalley8 This is worse than the Luka Trade 😭 #hoopervalley #h00pify #gorillatrade #bostonzoo #pittsburghzoo ♬ original sound – hoopervalley

@sommersespn

♬ original sound – Will Sommers

Search Interest

External References