The story about a Holstein calf born with the markings of a smiley face on its side has now gone around the world and for a good reason.
Meet “Happy” the calf.
The calf was named by its owners Barry and Megan Coster after they noticed its special smiley side. It was born on their Belbrook farm located in Ripplebrook, in West Gippsland, Australia on March 10.
“We’ve seen some number sevens or love hearts on the head and a few strange markings, but we’ve never seen anything that resembles a smiley face before,” Megan told the Australian Broadcasting Company (ABC) back in March when the calf was born.
Barry told the outlet he was shocked when he first saw the smiley face on the calf’s side. He sent Megan a photo to show her.
At first, Megan thought it was a joke being played on her and her husband by some of their employees.
“I couldn’t believe it — I actually zoomed in at first to make sure that none of our workers had added some extra lines or anything,” Megan said.
The Costers told ABC they initially intended to keep Happy on the farm with them as a pet. But recently Happy has moved on to even happier pastures after he was purchased by Lardner Park, for a donation of $10,000 to the West Gippsland Hospital, according to 10play.
Lardner Park is one of Australia’s premier regional exhibition venues and home to Farm World, county Victoria’s leading agricultural and lifestyle event, and music festivals, according to the park’s website. The park comprises 300 acres.
Happy has been named the park’s official mascot and will be visited by guests to the park.
“Happy has a lovely temperament and is a very active and attentive calf. He is feeding really well and seems well settled into his pen at Lardner Park. With approximately 40,000 to 50,000 patrons coming through the gates to see “Happy” this weekend, we know Happy will put a smile on everybody’s face,” Lardner Park’s CEO Craig Debnam told FOX TV Stations.
Recently, the park promoted Happy’s appearance at the Snowfest Gippsland event on Facebook.
“He’s sure to put a smile on everybodies face!” the park wrote, including some photos of the unique black and white calf smiley face.
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