Heidi (Opossum)
Heidi ( * 2008 in North Carolina, United States; † 28 September 2011 in Leipzig ) was a Opossumweibchen who lived in the tropical hall Gondwanaland in Leipzig Zoo, and because of its striking appearance ( strong squint and protruding eyes ) received media attention.
Life
Heidi belonged to the species of Virginia opossums. She was born together with sister Naira in the wild and reared in an animal care facility, after the two had been motherless found by gamekeepers. After Heidi was first sold to a zoo in Odense, Denmark, in May 2010 she came to Germany in the Leipzig Zoo. Due to quarantine regulations and an acclimatization period Heidi was a long time not seen in the public areas of the zoo. The reason for her strabismus is not known. A hypothesis for the origin of the " bug-eyed " is the excess weight with the arrived the animal in Germany. Fat accumulation in the orbits to have been the cause of Heidi's unusual appearance. By slimming with vegetables and lean meat the misalignment of the eyes should be cured.
Because of old age, the opossum was euthanized on 28 September 2011 at 07:30 clock.
Media Coverage
Ascent into the media spotlight
The first presentation of the animal in December 2010, met on a nationwide media attention and has quickly expanded to a global media and Internet phenomenon from topic. Time Magazine wrote about: "Not content with Knut the polar bear, Paul the octopus and David Hasselhoff, Germans now have a brand new fascination" (Eng. Not enough with Knut, the polar bear, Paul, the octopus and David Hasselhoff, who the Germans now a brand new attraction ). In January, the MDR Heidi Elephant, Tiger & Co. to devote a telenovela with 20 episodes announced, as part of its mission. The format runs under the title Heidi - squinting into happiness. The Heidinovela. A fan page on Facebook had already early January 2011, more members than the side of the German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The animal was also pictured on the cover of the February 2011 edition of the satirical magazine Titanic. The Danish actor Morten Grunwald ( " Benny " from the Olsen Gang ), who also like Heidi from Odense comes, should become a sponsor for the cross-eyed opossum. A special visit to the Leipzig Zoo was already planned to do so.
In February 2011, Heidi was in several shipments of U.S. late-night show Jimmy Kimmel Live! to see. You should similarly predict the Octopus oracle Paul results of the Oscar ceremony in 2011. To this end, recordings were made in their enclosure. While Best Actor and Best Actress with Colin Firth ( for his role in The King's Speech ) and Natalie Portman ( for Black Swan ) was correct in the two categories, selected by her best film drama won 127 Hours no award. Instead, The King's Speech was honored at the ceremony on February 27, 2011.
Marketing
Even before Heidi could ever visited - only since July 1, 2011, the new tropical plant Gondwanaland can be visited - estimated marketing experts, let that money with advertising contracts million euros. The Leipzig Zoo marketing rights has secured and declared to put the money from the " Heidi hype " for the species conservation program " Sabah rhino in Borneo " at the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research are available. The Bad Kösen toy manufactory in February 2011 brought a plush toy possum Heidi on the market. A Leipzig firm also developed a gaming app for the mobile phone, in the Heidi is the lead actress.
Günter Bentele According to Heidi served with a combination of pity and weirdness stitch two main points of today's attention logic.