A cross-eyed opossum in Germany called Heidi who is not
yet even on public display has become an Internet hit, winning more
than 65,000 admirers on social networking website Facebook.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YFAiA6qTtg
Heidi is thought to be two and a half years old, and was
abandoned outside an animal shelter in North Carolina in the United
States, together with her sister Naira, and has been in Leipzig zoo
in eastern Germany since May.
The sisters, plus a third male opossum called Teddy, arrived via
a zoo in Denmark, and will make their public debut on July 1, the
German zoo says on a special Internet page set up for Heidi's
fans.
The zoo believes the marsupial's eye problem may be to do with
her diet before she was abandoned, or because she is overweight,
leading to fat deposits behind her eyes. Otherwise she is
completely normal and not in pain.
"Apart from aesthetically, this situation is not a problem," the
zoo says. "As animals that are active at night, opossums find their
way around using their noses."
Her popularity is reminiscent of the success of a polar bear
called Knut in Berlin who as a cub became an global media star and
money-spinner in 2007, even featuring on the front page of Vanity
Fair magazine.
But Leipzig zoo said that it is not planning any "active
marketing" of Heidi, and says it would devote any income from third
parties that it might earn to a project supporting rhinos in
Borneo.
This could include proceeds from a catchy song about Heidi sung
by three girls, it said. A German firm has reportedly already begun
making stuffed toys of Heidi.
"You can all visit me from July 1 ... but not all 65,000 at
once," reads a "message" from Heidi on her Facebook page.