With his shock of golden hair and trim 700-kilogram (1,500-pound) build, Donald Trump has been drawing crowds from across Bangladesh since he arrived at the national zoo last week.
The rare albino buffalo became a sensation when a farmer noticed that his blond tuft of hair resembled the distinctive locks of the U.S. president. After a video of the pale horned mammal went viral on social media, large numbers of people started showing up at the farm outside Dhaka to see him for themselves.
The animal was originally meant to be slaughtered for the Muslim festival of sacrifice. But citing security concerns, the government ordered him transferred to the zoo in the capital, where large crowds are now braving sweltering heat to see him.
On Tuesday, visitors pressed against the fence of the buffalo’s enclosure, filming with their phones as some fathers hoisted small children on their shoulders for a better view.
A zoo worker pampered the animal, brushing his hair to one side and hosing him down with water to keep him cool as fans blew on him.
“There is a resemblance to Donald Trump in its eyes, hairstyle, and skin color,” said Mohammed Nasim, a student in Dhaka. “And just as Donald Trump has a distinctive personality and lifestyle, this buffalo, after going viral, is now living a similar kind of life, enjoying a lot of attention and special treatment.”
Local media reported that the exhibit initially included a sign that said “Donald Trump,” which has since been removed. The zoo curator was fired on Saturday, though no official cause was given for the dismissal.
Some clearly found the naming in poor taste.
“Giving a farm animal the name of one of the world’s most influential leaders was certainly the wrong thing to do,” said Dhaka resident Mohammad Joynal Adedin, who visited the zoo to see the buffalo anyway. “It seems disrespectful. I think the farmer who did this made a poor decision.”
The buffalo was sold ahead of Eid al-Adha, the “Feast of Sacrifice.” When Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed ordered police to take it into custody, the authorities refunded the buyer.
“Since before Eid, I had been seeing posts on Facebook saying that ‘Donald Trump’ would be sacrificed. Later, I heard that instead of being sacrificed, it had been placed in a zoo,” said Mohammad Habibur Rahman, a visitor to the zoo from the southwestern Bangladeshi city of Jashore.
“So, I thought I would come to the zoo and see ‘Donald Trump’ for myself,” he said.