A buffalo nicknamed “Donald Trump” for its flowing blond hair has been spared from sacrifice after shooting to fame, and will instead be cared for at the national zoo.
Muslim-majority Bangladesh, a South Asian nation of 170 million people, celebrated Aidiladha, the “feast of the sacrifice”, yesterday.
The 700kg bull, a rare albino buffalo with a flowing helmet of light hair resembling the signature look of the US president, was due to be slaughtered to mark the day.
But hours before it faced the knife, the government stepped in to save the animal, which has become an online sensation.
Curator of the National Zoo, Atiqur Rahman, said the animal would be well looked after.
Zia Uddin Mridha, 38, the buffalo’s former owner, said his brother had named it “Trump” because of its “extraordinary hair”.
Zia said a constant stream of curious visitors – social media fans, onlookers and children – came to see the animal.
However, he sold the bull ahead of Aidiladha.
But police swooped in after the government ordered that the buffalo be spared.
“The livestock department requested us to take the buffalo from the owner as it is a rare animal,” Mohammad Ruhul Quddus, officer-in-charge of Dhaka’s Keraniganj Police Station, said. — AFP
Star of the show: People visiting ‘Donald Trump’ at the Bangladesh National Zoo in Dhaka. — Reuters
This photograph taken on May 17, 2026 shows a caretaker attending an albino buffalo nicknamed "Donald Trump" for sale ahead of Eid al-Adha at a livestock farm in Narayanganj. Crowds in Bangladesh are flocking to snap photographs with an unlikely social media star -- an albino buffalo with flowing blond hair nicknamed "Donald Trump" due to be sacrificed within days. (Photo by Salahuddin AHMED / AFP) / To go with 'Bangladesh-US-Politics-Buffalo', VISUAL STORY
FILE PHOTO: A sacrificial albino buffalo named after U.S. President Donald Trump which recently went viral, is pictured at an agro farm ahead of Eid-al-Adha, in Narayanganj, Bangladesh, May 20, 2026. REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir Hossain/File Photo
