Meatball (hippopotamus)
Bulette (born April 3, 1952 in Leipzig , † December 31, 2005 in Berlin ) was a female hippopotamus that lived in the Berlin Zoological Garden .
Was born meatball in Zoologischer Garten Leipzig , where her mother Grete was located. About a year after she was born, she was given to the Berlin Zoo. The sire also gained popularity among Berliners under the name Knautschke and also beyond the city limits of Berlin. The crumple was the only large animal in Berlin that survived the Second World War . The bull Nante, son of Bulette and Knautschke, injured his father so badly in a rival match that he had to be put to sleep in 1988 at the age of 46. Bulette also had offspring together with her son Nante .
Bulette exceeded their service life of 53 years significantly the life expectancy of hippos in their natural environment, which is about 30 to 40 years. This makes it the oldest mammal in Europe to be found in a zoo . In the course of her life she gave birth to more than 20 offspring, some of them from her father Knautschke , and thus largely secured the population of hippos in Europe's zoological gardens. Some of their offspring have also been released into the African river basins.
Due to an injury after being attacked by another hippopotamus in 2003 and age-related complaints in her front legs, Bulette was significantly emaciated in the last two years of her life from an original weight of around 2500 kilograms to around 1000 kilograms. She was partially attacked by the other hippos in the Berlin zoo and therefore kept separate from her fellow species in the last months of her life. New Year's Eve 2005 had meatball due to serious health problems put to be.
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