Heidi (opossum)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Heidi (May 2008 – 28 September 2011) was a
Virginia opossum The Virginia opossum (''Didelphis virginiana''), also known as the North American opossum, is a member of the opossum family found from southern Canada to northern Costa Rica, making it the northernmost marsupial in the world and the only marsup ...
housed at
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
's
Leipzig Zoo Leipzig Zoological Garden, or Leipzig Zoo () is a zoo in the Leipzig district of Mitte, Germany. It was first opened on June 9, 1878. It was taken over by the city of Leipzig in 1920 after World War I and now covers about and contains approximatel ...
. In December 2010, the two-and-a-half year old, cross-eyed animal made international headlines shortly after a photograph was published by ''
Bild ''Bild'' (, ) or ''Bild-Zeitung'' (, ) is a German tabloid newspaper published by Axel Springer SE. The paper is published from Monday to Saturday; on Sundays, its sister paper '' Bild am Sonntag'' () is published instead, which has a differen ...
''. Heidi inspired a popular
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
song, a line of stuffed animals, and a
Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
page with over 290,000 followers.Warner, Mary Beth. (7 January 2011).
A Star is Born: Heidi, the Cross-Eyed Opossum, Charms Germany
.
Spiegel Online ' () is a German news website. It was established in 1994 as ''Spiegel Online'' as a content mirror of the magazine ''Der Spiegel''. In 1995, the site began producing original stories and it introduced ''Spiegel Online International'' for artic ...
. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
The zoo's new tropical wildlife exhibit opened to the public in July 2011, and Heidi was exhibited alongside two other opossums – her sister Naira and a male named Teddy.A few facts about Heidi the opossum
". Leipzig Zoo website. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
International media has noted that Heidi was one of several animals either born or living in German zoos who have made headlines over the past few years; she followed in the footsteps of other German celebrity animals such as polar bears
Knut Knut ( Norwegian and Swedish), Knud ( Danish), or Knútur ( Icelandic) is a Scandinavian and German first name, of which the anglicised form is Canute. In Germany both "Knut" and "Knud" are used. In Spanish and Portuguese Canuto is used which ...
and Flocke, as well as
Paul the Octopus Paul the Octopus (26 January 2008 – 26 October 2010) was a common octopus who predicted the results of international association football matches. Accurate predictions in the 2010 World Cup brought him worldwide attention as an animal ...
.


Life

Heidi was given to Leipzig by
Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
's
Odense Zoo Odense Zoo is a zoological garden in Odense, Denmark. At the time of its opening in 1930, the zoo had two apes, a peacock, a deer, a mule, magpies, and guinea pigs. Today, the zoo has animals from all over the world, covering around 1000 species ...
in May 2010, although she was originally raised in a wild animal sanctuary in the U.S. state of
North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
after being found as an orphan. It is speculated by zoo officials that Heidi's most notable attribute – her crossed eyes – may have been caused by fatty deposits behind her eyes, the result of poor diet from when she was younger. While this condition did not affect the opossum's health in any way, mainly because opossums are
nocturnal Nocturnality is a ethology, behavior in some non-human animals characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatur ...
, it would nonetheless have made her vulnerable to predators in the wild. The zoo put Heidi on a strict diet shortly after her arrival; it was reported in late January that she had already lost 400
grams The gram (originally gramme; SI unit symbol g) is a unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI) equal to one thousandth of a kilogram. Originally defined in 1795 as "the absolute weight of a volume of pure water equal to the cube ...
(about one pound).Kelsey, Eric. (31 January 2011).
Heidi the cross-eyed opossum on a diet for health
.
Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...
. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
Heidi was
euthanised Animal euthanasia (euthanasia from ; "good death") is the act of killing an animal humanely, most commonly with injectable drugs. Reasons for euthanasia include incurable (and especially painful) conditions or diseases, lack of resources to con ...
by the zoo veterinary staff on 28 September 2011 after several weeks of struggle against arthritis and other old age health conditions. The life span of opossums in the wild is normally two years.Heidi the cross-eyed opossum dead at three
. ''
The Local ''The Local'' is a multi-regional, European digital news publisher targeting expats, labour migrants and second home owners. It has nine local editions: The Local Austria, The Local Denmark, The Local France, The Local Germany, The Local Italy, ...
''. Retrieved 28 September 2011.


Popularity

In December 2010, German tabloid ''Bild'' featured photographs of various animals to be featured in Leipzig Zoo's upcoming ''Gondwanaland'' exhibit. Pictures showing Heidi, the cross-eyed Virginia opossum, quickly became a phenomenon on the Internet. Although the zoo declined any plans for marketing the small marsupial, Heidi's quick rise to fame led to a popular Facebook page. Despite the opossum's sudden fame, the Zoo had no plans to change the upcoming exhibit to better showcase its new star. Leipzig Zoo spokeswoman Maria Saegebart stated in early January: "We understand that Heidi has become so popular and that people will want to see her, but that will not change the zoo's strategy with the exhibit – she's one animal of many."Kelsey, Eric. (11 January 2011).
Cross-eyed opossum capturing hearts
.
Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...
. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
Heidi reportedly received an offer to appear at the
83rd Academy Awards The 83rd Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2010 in the United States and took place on February 27, 2011, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, be ...
on 27 February 2011 via video broadcast, but instead appeared on the late-night show ''
Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', sometimes shortened to ''JKL'', is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, and broadcast on ABC. The nightly hour-long show tapes and is based out of the Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywo ...
'' in a series of pre-taped vignettes, in which she predicted the winners of three Oscar categories. She missed one prediction, choosing the long-shot Oscar-nominated ''
127 Hours ''127 Hours'' is a 2010 biographical drama film co-written, produced, and directed by Danny Boyle. The film mainly stars James Franco, with Kate Mara, Amber Tamblyn, and Clémence Poésy appearing in brief supporting roles. In the film, cany ...
'' to win over the eventual Oscar-winning ''
The King's Speech ''The King's Speech'' is a 2010 historical drama film directed by Tom Hooper and written by David Seidler. Colin Firth plays the future King George VI who, to cope with a stammer, sees Lionel Logue, an Australian speech and language ther ...
'' for Best Film. A Heidi stuffed animal was included in some gift bags available to Oscar guests.Kelsey, Eric. (28 February 2011).
German celebrity opossum misses one Oscar pick
.
Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...
. Retrieved 6 March 2011.


References

{{reflist


External links


Leipzig Zoo's official websiteHeidi, das schielende Opossum
via Facebook 2008 animal births 2011 animal deaths Opossums Individual animals in Germany Celebrity animals Individual marsupials