GameStop Redditors Invest in Gorilla Conservation

Redditors have been grouping together under the slogan "Apes Together Strong" to symbolically adopt gorillas and donate to foundations that focus on ape conservation. 

The members of the Reddit page WallStreetBets had previously garnered attention after its users caused stock prices of GameStop to skyrocket in January. It now looks like they're banding together once again for a new noble cause. 

The new slogan aims to get Reddit users and investors to join in on the mission of amassing their earnings to adopt gorillas. Some of the foundations on the receiving end of these donations, such as the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, have been flabbergasted by the donations. 

In under a week, donations have exceeded $350,000, reported the BBC.

In response to the donations, the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund foundation took to Twitter to express its gratitude, and explain that the funds will be used for their field programs, which is where they track, monitor, and study gorillas in their natural habitats, stated the BBC.

On Saturday, a friend alerted us that a member of @Official_WSB subreddit had posted a symbolic adoption of our infant gorilla #Urungano , a reference to the #WSB motto: #apestogetherstrong . It caught on. pic.twitter.com/cjL6NrZj2L

— Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund (@SavingGorillas) March 15, 2021

It all kickstarted when Reddit user Pakistani_in_MURICA posted his symbolic adoption of a baby gorilla called Urungano from the organization on behalf of GameStop, posting his adoption papers on WallStreetBets last Friday, March 13. 

From that moment on, other Redditors joined in to adopt gorillas, and posted their successes on the site. 

In a fun turn of events, some of the users on WallStreetBets are referring to themselves as "apes," writing comments such as "Apes saving apes," and "Because apes together strong." 

On top of the result for the foundations and the apes — the actual animal ones, not Redditors — per the BBC, GameStop's share price has spike, which means hedge funds betting against it have made big losses. 

Everyone is as surprised as the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, who tweeted on Monday, March 15 "It's safe to say that the investor community on reddit is not traditionally who we think of as a supporter base. But they definitively surprised and overwhelmed us over the weekend."