National mourning in Artis for hippos, crowd favorites as early as the nineteenth century

‘An Amsterdammer of great importance has passed away’ was the headline in De Telegraaf in 1896, when hippopotamus Betsy breathed her last in Artis at the age of 36. And when, more than a century later, Tanja, who was also beloved, died, the whole of Amsterdam turned out on Christmas Day. Reason enough for the oldest zoo in the country to put the iconic wild animals in the spotlight with an exhibition during History Month.

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