Even animal celebrity deaths come in threes

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First, the black bear in Boulder, Colo., which shot to Internet fame when a photograph of it suspended midair went viral, was hit by cars and died last Thursday.

Then, Meow, a morbidly obese cat whose popularity grew as Santa Fe Animal Shelter veterinarians tried to get him healthy, had to be euthanized Saturday.

And now we say goodbye to Prince Harry, the pygmy hippo in South Africa that was rejected by his mother and was under the care of the staff at Cango Wildlife Ranch, who died during surgery Wednesday after suffering respiratory failure.

It's common trope that celebrity deaths occur in clusters of threes, and this week has been no exception. The Beastie Boys' MCA (Adam Yauch), beloved children's author Maurice Sendak and pioneering hairstylist Vidal Sassoon all passed on this week.

For Prince Harry, it seems, it was only a matter of time.