Photograph of Obaysch (c. 1848- 78) the hippoptamus lying down, facing left. Obaysch has his eyes open. There is water in foreground and the bars of the enclosure, known as the Hippopotamus House, can be seen in background.
Obaysch was London Zoo's first hippopotamus. He arrived at London Zoo on 25 May 1850. He proved to be very popular and attracted up to 10,000 visitors to the Zoo every day, with visitor numbers doubling for the year 1850.
Photograph is from a set of 43 photographs (2905515-2905557) of animals at London Zoo.
