Internet star Toni the hippo to leave Berlin Zoo in August

Berlin Zoo has announced that internet star Toni the pygmy hippo will leave the zoo at the end of August. The zoo is yet to reveal her new home.

Toni the hippo to leave Berlin Zoo

Internet star Toni the pygmy hippo is scheduled to leave the Berlin Zoo in August. “As you know, we are going to lose our hippo, Toni,” the zoo wrote on Facebook. “Now, the date is set, she will stay until the end of August”. Employees at the zoo said Toni will get a “special farewell”.

The zoo has not yet shared where Toni is going. According to recommendations from the EAZA Ex-situ Programme, which advises European zoos and animal parks on care practices, hippos should move location when they are around one year old. Toni celebrated her first birthday in June this year.

How did Toni rise to fame?

Toni is one of many famous animal characters resident at the zoo in Berlin. She shot to international fame in August 2024, when the zoo asked the public to suggest names for a hippo which had just been born.

The zoo received over 20.000 suggestions from all across the world. On August 14, the Nilpferd was christened Toni, after Antonio Rüdiger, a centre-back for the German national men’s football team.