Zoological Gardens in Regents Park

Meet Obaysch, the first hippopotamus ever seen in Britain, peacefully napping at the Zoological Gardens in Regent’s Park, London, around 1852. His arrival from Egypt in 1850 caused a public sensation — hundreds of thousands of visitors flocked to the zoo to marvel at the exotic creature.

Obaysch became so popular that “hippomania” swept through Victorian London, and the Zoological Society of London saw its attendance and funding soar. This photo, one of the earliest animal portraits ever taken, captures not just a moment of natural stillness, but a nation's wonder at the new and unknown.

Fun fact: the London Zoo was the world’s first scientific zoo, opened to the public in 1847, just five years before this photo was taken.

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