US election storm over rumours dead gorilla Harambe received 11,000 votes

There are claims 11,000 people voted for the dead gorilla Harambe in the US presidential election, and social media is not happy.

A June 20, 2015 photo provided by the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden shows Harambe Source: AAP

Harambe - the gorilla who was killed by US zoo keepers in May when a four-year-old boy fell into his enclosure  - was the president of choice for more than 11,000 Americans, according to claims on social media.

Canadian resident Jeffrey Otingo posted the original tweet containing this statistic on election day and told Buzzfeed he heard the figure while streaming coverage online.

Despite the lack of any proof or substantiation, the post was retweeted more than 100,000 times and led to numerous others posting images of their vote for the gorilla.

Many on social media didn't find the statistic humorous, claiming voters had wasted their opportunity to exercise their democratic right.

SBS News has been unable to confirm the statistic independently.