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.