中國網站品牌欄目（頻道）
She's middle-aged, gray-haired and stays up all night. Still, Heidi the cross-eyed opossum is Germany's biggest media sensation, and she has not even made her debut at the Leipzig Zoo.
Yet Heidi appears to be the next in a line of animal celebrities in Germany. The 2 1/2-year-old opossum has a growing Facebook following, with almost 80,000 fans, sparked a popular song on YouTube and will soon star as a plush toy.
However, the public will not get their first glimpse of the opossum until July, when the zoo opens its tropical wildlife exhibit.
The zoo had no inkling of what a celebrity the cross-eyed opossum would become when Heidi, along with her sister, Naira, and a male opossum arrived from a Denmark zoo in May.
"The Heidi sensation was surprising and unplanned," said Leipzig zoo spokeswoman Maria Saegebarth.
Heidi first appeared in Germany's mass-circulation newspaper Bild last month. The zoo has no plans to change its upcoming tropical exhibit because of Heidi's ticket draw.
"We understand that Heidi has become so popular and that people will want to see her," Saegebarth said. "But that will not change the zoo's strategy with the exhibit - she's one animal of many."
Still, Heidi is the most recent example of animal celebrities in Germany in recent years, which includes Knut the polar bear in Berlin and the recently deceased Paul the octopus in Oberhausen, western Germany.
Knut became internationally famous as a cub when the Berlin zoo hand-reared him after he was rejected by his mother in December 2006. The zoo earned 1 million euros ($1.3 million) from marketing Knut products in 2007.
Paul the octopus was an international sensation this past summer when he correctly predicted the results of each of Germany's World Cup soccer matches and accurately tapped Spain to top the Netherlands in the final.
Demand for information about Heidi has been so high that the zoo has dedicated a portion of its website to answering Heidi-related questions, such as why she is cross-eyed.
Zoo officials believe that Heidi's crossed eyes could come from a poor diet when she was young, causing fat deposits to develop behind her eyes - neither of which causes her pain or poses a health risk, the zoo said.
Poor vision is not much of a problem for Heidi, the zoo said. As a nocturnal animal, opossums rely heavily on their sense of smell to get around.
Questions:
1. Who is set to become the next animal celebrity in Germany?
2. Where can the public meet her?
3. What other animals became famous in Germany?
Answers:
1. Heidi the cross-eyed opossum.
2. She will make her debut at the Leipzig Zoo in July, when the zoo opens its tropical wildlife exhibit.
3. Knut the polar bear in Berlin and Paul the octopus in Oberhausen, western Germany.
（中國日報網英語點津 Helen 編輯）
About the broadcaster:
Nelly Min is an editor at China Daily with more than 10 years of experience as a newspaper editor and photographer. She has worked at major newspapers in the U.S., including the Los Angeles Times and the Detroit Free Press. She is also fluent in Korean.
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