Thanks for correcting those for me!
North American Common Hippopotamus Population
- Thread starter Valentinoamor
- Start date
Thanks for correcting those for me!
It’s been confirmed! 23 year old Bibi at Cincinnati is pregnant and due in summer of this year. Tucker, who just arrived from San Francisco this fall, is the sire of the upcoming calf.
Bibi is Expecting! - Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden®
Bibi is Expecting! - Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden®
Mr.Ivory
Well-Known Member
Well that was fast
Took the words right out of my mouth, lol.
RhinoHippoElephantGiraffe
Well-Known Member
Literally just one day after I said that it was a medium-possible birth, the Cincinnati Zoo has announced that 23-year-old Bibi is pregnant with her second calf, which is due in late August. The father of the baby is 19-year-old Tucker, which this will also be his second calf, but first with Bibi
Who was Tucker's first calf?
Quite unexpected as Cincinnati did state that breeding with Tucker and Bibi wouldn't be until much into the future.
"The Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Hippo Species Survival Plan (SSP) recommended that Tucker move to Cincinnati to be Bibi’s companion and to enjoy being part of a hippo pod. If a baby is in their future, it will be way down the road before that happens” said Cincinnati Zoo’s director of animal care, Christina Gorsuch".
It's exciting news though; this being Bibi's second calf. The calf will have its own share of fame being known as 'Fiona's younger sibling'. It'll be interesting though as Cincinnati will almost be at limit space wise once the calf is born. I think it's inevitable they move Fiona on sooner now rather than later.
A male named Vision who lives at the Topeka Zoo. He was born August 20, 2010 to Tucker and Mara.
Yes, the pregnancy actually wasn’t supposed to occur this early as Bibi was kept on contraception but it failed to prevent a pregnancy:
From what I've been hearing, the SSP for hippos is in a similar situation to the bonobos. There are not a ton of facilities that have a lot of room, so many facilities exceed their max capacity...
I really wish Milwaukee would've gone bigger with their hippo expansion! (It's a shame they had bad funding.) I think their new expansion with touch-up parts of their indoor hippo areas, though?
I really wish Milwaukee would've gone bigger with their hippo expansion! (It's a shame they had bad funding.) I think their new expansion with touch-up parts of their indoor hippo areas, though?
The expansion includes plans to increase the hippo's indoor areas pretty significantly, and also to make it a mixed-species exhibit with Cattle Egrets.
Interesting. Do you think this will allow them to take in more hippos?
RhinoHippoElephantGiraffe
Well-Known Member
I think that Milwaukee won't be phasing out hippos, but I doubt they will get any more hippos until Patti and Happy both die, since both hippos are elderly. Patti is 53 years old and Happy is 41.
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Given Patti's age (53), I'd say it'd be inadvisable to bring in new hippos until after she's passed. The expansion will allow the zoo to accommodate a larger pod, so should be viewed as future proofing. Down the line, I wouldn't be surprised to see Happy joined by a pair of females to create a cohesive pod of 1.2 hippos.
RhinoHippoElephantGiraffe
Well-Known Member
I think we posted at literally the exact same time.
RhinoHippoElephantGiraffe
Well-Known Member
Happy is 41 years old and will probably never breed again. However, I can see Milwaukee bringing in 1:1 Common Hippo that will be for breeding purposes. That pair and Happy (if he's still alive) will not be introduced and will rotate on exhibit.
There’s no guarantee he will never breed again, Moe at ABQ is around his age and just sired a calf last year. Also, I doubt Milwaukee will bring in 1.1 adults since the new recommendation for zoos that are opening new habitats is to house larger pods consisting of multiple females.
San Diego's late Otis sired both Tony and Amahale in his early 40's before passing. 41 is not out of breeding range for a male hippo. The more likely reason for him not breeding would be no introduction to a breeding age mate.
I'd love to see Milwaukee get a breeding pair!
That seems logical for welfare reasons. Having a cohesive pod means all hippos can be on exhibit, eliminating the need to keep any outback while incompatible hippos are on exhibit. The best way to achieve this is through related females. A mother-daughter dyad with the option to retain future female calves born to these females if breeding is desired. Separation of the mother will and newborn will still be required, but reintroductions are typically simpler.