{"id":523211,"date":"2025-10-23T22:23:26","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T22:23:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/523211\/"},"modified":"2025-10-23T22:23:26","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T22:23:26","slug":"viral-sensation-haggis-the-hippo-set-to-leave-edinburgh-zoo-in-emotional-goodbye","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/523211\/","title":{"rendered":"Viral sensation Haggis the hippo set to leave Edinburgh Zoo in emotional goodbye"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland are bidding a fond farewell to Haggis the pygmy hippo ahead of her last weekend in the capital.\"HaggisHaggis the hippo is leaving Edinburgh Zoo this weekend(Image: RZSS)<\/p>\n

A beloved hippo<\/a> that recently became a viral sensation at Edinburgh Zoo is sadly leaving Scotland for pastures new.<\/p>\n

The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland are bidding an emotional farewell to Haggis the pygmy hippo<\/a> ahead of her last weekend in the capital.<\/p>\n

The adorable animal<\/a> has been given her very own goodbye card with the words “bye the noo Haggis” written across the front as she prepares to leave for Wingham Wildlife Park, near Canterbury.<\/p>\n

The wildlife conservation charity has recommended visitors book tickets to say their goodbyes this weekend, with the last guaranteed date to see her being October 26.<\/p>\n

\"HaggisHaggis has been given a goodbye card as she prepares to leave for Wingham Wildlife Park, near Canterbury(Image: RZSS)<\/p>\n

Edinburgh Zoo said: “Haggis, our much-loved pygmy hippo, will soon be moving to another zoo to play her important part in the international breeding programme for this endangered species.”<\/p>\n

Haggis achieved internet fame after being born at the zoon on October 30, 2024, thanks to a global obsession<\/a> with pygmy hippos sparked by viral hippo Moo Deng at Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Thailand.<\/p>\n

She featured on NBC’s Saturday Night Live and even received a public apology from Greg James after she was called ‘not cute’ on his BBC Radio 1 show.<\/p>\n

In December, we told how Haggis was pictured making a splash<\/a> during a winter swim in an adorable new photo.<\/p>\n

\"AnHaggis the baby pygmy hippo enjoys a swim at Edinburgh Zoo in December (Image: Edinburgh Zoo)<\/p>\n

The animal, who was eight weeks old at the time, was snapped frolicking in the pool during a daily swimming<\/a> session, under the watchful eye of mum Gloria.<\/p>\n

The wintry temperatures haven’t stopped Haggis from getting the hang of swimming, which is vital for the endangered hippo species to keep their skin moist and regulate their temperature<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Native to West Africa, it is estimated there are only 2,500 pygmy hippos remaining in the wild<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hoofstock team leader Jonny Appleyard at Edinburgh Zoo told the BBC earlier this year: “While Thailand’s Moo Deng has become a viral global icon, it is important to remember that pygmy hippos are incredibly rare<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“It is great to have our own little ambassador right here in Edinburgh to connect with our visitors and help raise awareness of the challenges the species face in the wild.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland are bidding a fond farewell to Haggis the pygmy hippo ahead of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":523212,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8816],"tags":[933,748,1102,46616,4884,712,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-523211","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-edinburgh","8":"tag-animals","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-edinburgh","11":"tag-edinburgh-zoo","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-scotland","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115425824520550637","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=523211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523211\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/523212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=523211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=523211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=523211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}