Big Floppa is a popular internet meme featuring a distinctive and striking Caracal known for its large size and unique facial expressions. The Caracal has become a beloved figure in online culture celebrated for its funny features and characteristics.
Naming
In late December 2019, ironic Instagram accounts began calling the Caracal sahnr or big sahnr. In January, an Instagram user first named Gosha "Big Floppa", and in February, a user posted an image depicting him with his ears digitally removed, along with the caption Flop Exclusive. The nicknames "Floppa" and "Big Floppa" have been used by internet users to describe Caracals in general since then, especially those living as pets.
Early Life
Details about Gosha's early life are still unclear, though it is known that Floppa was born in an unidentified breeding facility in Kyiv, Ukraine, with his caretakers being Andrei Bondarev and Yelena Bondarev.
Story
Gosha's owner, Yelena Bondarev, created an Instagram account for Gosha and posted several photos of the wild cat. On December 24, 2019, Andrei Bondarev posted a photo on Instagram showing Gosha lying on a windowsill with Matvei. This image became the basis for the various Big Floppa memes. One of the most famous is Floppa Friday, in which fans send each other memes in honor of Gosha on the fifth Friday of every year.
Internet Fame
In May 2020, Big Floppa memes also started appearing on Twitter and Reddit. In the summer of 2020, the meme gained popularity in Russian internet communities, where Gosha is known as Большой Шлёпа (Bolshoi Shlyopa ). Later, the meme quickly spread to English-speaking internet communities as well. In May 2021, a flash mob gained popularity in Russian-speaking communities, in which participants sent their parents pictures of Floppa and texts such as "Look, this is Floppa, the big Russian cat. What do you think of him?" via messenger. The parents' reactions were subsequently spread on social networks by the participants. On June 9, 2021, the correspondent of the TV channel "Dozhd" Maria Borsunova interviewed the "big Russian cat": in it, his owners talked about the history of the Caracal and its popularity. On October 12, a similar interview was conducted by journalists of the Russian TV channel "360°".
Criticism
The family's social media channels are full of critical comments about keeping Gosha as a domesticated pet. Some users accuse the family of keeping a wild animal who belongs in the wild and should not be kept as a pet. More criticism sparked when users began to realize Gosha was also extremely overweight and easy to aggravate, leading to more hateful comments from animal specialists and users. No major changes have been done to Gosha's husbandry.
Sources and Credits
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caracal
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Floppa
https://www.rbth.com/lifestyle/333844-meet-big-floppa
https://bigfloppaofficial.com/
Gallery
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Big Floppa's face
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Family Photo with Big Floppa
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Big Floppa with Matevi
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Big Floppa Hissing at Camera
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Big Floppa with multiple smaller Floppas
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Rapping Floppa
