For twenty years or so (1840-1860) Hull had a zoo and in that zoo for a few weeks in 1860 there was a White Nile hippopotamus by the name of Bucheet, the first hippo in England outside of London. Now Bucheet means 'fortunate' in Arabic but I reckon this poor chap's life was far from that, being captured as a calf, transported in poor conditions half way round the world, exhibited in zoos in England before being shipped off to America and ending his days in Canada as a circus show piece, "G. C. Quick's Colossal Hippopotamus."! Even after death he was stuffed and exhibited. What we have here at the end of Albany Street is a marble statue of poor old Bucheet. It's part of a small zoological trail in the neighbourhood, there are bears at the other end of the street.
If hippos are your thing then Virtual Hippo World might be of interest to you.
It's best that they're left in the wild, where they can be free. If zoos must be, then they must give the animals space- and not treat them like performers as circuses do.
ReplyDeletePoor Bucheet. Poor all animals in zoos. I have been told that we need them, but I don't support them.
ReplyDelete