A cross-eyed opossum called Heidi has become a star in Germany, where she is housed in a zoo.
The opossum has inspired a YouTube hit song and toy, as well as gaining more than 65,000 fans on Facebook.
Heidi the cross-eyed opossum was dumped outside an animal shelter in North Carolina in the US with her sister Naira, before being moved to Leipzig Zoo, in Germany, in May.
The siblings will go on display at the zoo in July, along with a male opossum called Teddy.
Heidi soared to stardom after reporters from German tabloid Bild went to photograph animals that will be part of Gondwanaland, a themed part of the zoo. The photos soon became famous.
Heidi the cross-eyed opposum’s Leipzig Zoo web page.
The YouTube song about the cross-eyed opossum was written by Stefan Langner and is sung by three young girls.
The lyrics go: “Heidi is so sweet. How nice that she exists. I fell so in love with her from the first.”
Zoo staff say that the creature’s crossed eyes could have been caused by the diet she had before being abandoned or because she is overweight which can lead to fatty deposits around the eyes.
Listen to the song for Heidi the cross-eyed opossum.
