Australasian Hippo Population

steveroberts said:
@Zoofan15 @WhistlingKite24 Wonderful news :)
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For context, it’s been 68 years since the last founder of the current Common hippopotamus population was imported into the region: Kabete (1953-1993), imported by Auckland Zoo in 1956. Kabete’s living descendants in the region are: Cuddles (2002), Kibibi (2014) and Kendi (2017).

I’ll be interested to see which cows breed. This is my analysis:

Werribee Open Range Zoo:

0.1 Primrose (01/12/1990) Harold x Unknown
0.1 Tulip (01/01/2003) Harold x Primrose
0.1 Lotus (28/03/2008) Harold x Primrose

With three exhibits, the logical way forward is to focus breeding on Lotus, with her and her offspring occupying one of the exhibits; the bull in another; and Primrose and Tulip in the other. The mother and daughter are only 12 years apart in age, which is negligible given the variation in lifespan observed in the region.

Monarto Safari Park:

0.1 Brindabella (09/12/1990) Harold x Unknown
0.1 Pansy (18/11/2013) Harold x Brindabella

This is the facility I’m most excited for as imo they’re the most likely to have two breeding females. Monarto apparently intend to hold a pod of 5-6 hippopotami, which could be achieved via 1-2 calves per cow; with a reasonable chance of achieving an integrated pod.

Taronga Western Plains Zoo:

0.1 Nile (15/05/1999) Ollie x Suzie
0.1 Cuddles (00/09/2002) Fonzie x Solucky
0.1 Kibibi (11/09/2014) Mana x Cuddles
0.1 Kendi (25/05/2017) Mana x Cuddles

This one is the hardest to call, but with her eye condition, it’s reasonable to assume Nile will be living out her remaining years on her own. Whether Dubbo would want to breed given they already have a cohesive pod of three young females is an unknown. I’m tempted to say not given the other two holders will likely be breeding and it would be wise to achieve some level of demographic staggering - a baby boom now will be an ageing population in decades to come.

Reproduction in females of this species does not appear to be impaired by delays in breeding or long birth intervals, so there’s nothing to be lost in not breeding from these cows ASAP.
 
WhistlingKite24 said:
In very pleasing news, the Hippo IRA has been completed, allowing the imports of Common and Pygmy Hippos into Australia:
Biosecurity review supports hippo populations in Australia’s welfare accredited zoos
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Amazing news! I know lot of us have all been waiting eagerly to see the day the IRA is passed, and alas the day has come!

It'll be exciting to see how quickly our zoos take advantage of the IRA, but I'd imagine there'll be a few moves made quite quickly considering the state of both our regional hippo populations.

There's more than enough countries on that list to provide us with some individuals for our breeding program which is awesome. For starters, two bulls for our Common population seems to be the way to go. And keeping in mind the state of our current Pygmy population, a cow for Melbourne and a bull for DDZ should be an adequate start to get the ball rolling once again.
 
Zoofan15 said:
For context, it’s been 68 years since the last founder of the current Common hippopotamus population was imported into the region: Kabete (1953-1993), imported by Auckland Zoo in 1956. Kabete’s living descendants in the region are: Cuddles (2002), Kibibi (2014) and Kendi (2017).

I’ll be interested to see which cows breed. This is my analysis:

Werribee Open Range Zoo:

0.1 Primrose (01/12/1990) Harold x Unknown
0.1 Tulip (01/01/2003) Harold x Primrose
0.1 Lotus (28/03/2008) Harold x Primrose

With three exhibits, the logical way forward is to focus breeding on Lotus, with her and her offspring occupying one of the exhibits; the bull in another; and Primrose and Tulip in the other. The mother and daughter are only 12 years apart in age, which is negligible given the variation in lifespan observed in the region.

Monarto Safari Park:

0.1 Brindabella (09/12/1990) Harold x Unknown
0.1 Pansy (18/11/2013) Harold x Brindabella

This is the facility I’m most excited for as imo they’re the most likely to have two breeding females. Monarto apparently intend to hold a pod of 5-6 hippopotami, which could be achieved via 1-2 calves per cow; with a reasonable chance of achieving an integrated pod.

Taronga Western Plains Zoo:

0.1 Nile (15/05/1999) Ollie x Suzie
0.1 Cuddles (00/09/2002) Fonzie x Solucky
0.1 Kibibi (11/09/2014) Mana x Cuddles
0.1 Kendi (25/05/2017) Mana x Cuddles

This one is the hardest to call, but with her eye condition, it’s reasonable to assume Nile will be living out her remaining years on her own. Whether Dubbo would want to breed given they already have a cohesive pod of three young females is an unknown. I’m tempted to say not given the other two holders will likely be breeding and it would be wise to achieve some level of demographic staggering - a baby boom now will be an ageing population in decades to come.

Reproduction in females of this species does not appear to be impaired by delays in breeding or long birth intervals, so there’s nothing to be lost in not breeding from these cows ASAP.
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Im not sure what the facilities are at Dubbo. But I wouldn't be surprised to see them import a bull and breed from kibbi and kendi. Especially if they are able to integrate nile and cuddles together.
Personally id be interested to see what happens if the put a pull in with cuddles and her two daughters and let them all breed at once. Whether that would work to produce a cohesive pod or not. It would make for a great display.
 
Tiger91 said:
Im not sure what the facilities are at Dubbo. But I wouldn't be surprised to see them import a bull and breed from kibbi and kendi. Especially if they are able to integrate nile and cuddles together.
Personally id be interested to see what happens if the put a pull in with cuddles and her two daughters and let them all breed at once. Whether that would work to produce a cohesive pod or not. It would make for a great display.
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I doubt Nile and Cuddles will be able to be integrated, they're unrelated adult cows who've never been introduced before. Recipe for disaster.

The same could be said if Cuddles and her two daughters would all be allowed to breed at the same time. It's a well known that female hippos are notorious for killing other females young, and this has been observed on a variety of occasions, especially in captivity.

Long term I don't see why Dubbo can't obtain a bull for breeding but in the meantime it would make the most sense to just acquire two bulls (one for Monarto and one for Werribee). They're both in the better position for breeding at the moment.
 
Tiger91 said:
Im not sure what the facilities are at Dubbo. But I wouldn't be surprised to see them import a bull and breed from kibbi and kendi. Especially if they are able to integrate nile and cuddles together.
Personally id be interested to see what happens if the put a pull in with cuddles and her two daughters and let them all breed at once. Whether that would work to produce a cohesive pod or not. It would make for a great display.
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Nile and Cuddles won’t be integrated. As I said in my previous post, Nile has an eye condition which limits her vision and in any case, unrelated cows typically don’t get along.

It would also be inadvisable to breed from three cows at once. It’s important to provide space for a cow and her neonate following the birth for them to bond before she returns to the pod. This is what happens in the wild. I imagine they’d either breed from Cuddles (the largest, most dominant cow) and attempt to introduce her and her calf to her daughters; or breed from one of the cows and build a new pod around her (with the others remaining seperate).
 
Australasian Hippopotamus Population (2025)

2024 saw two very exciting events transpire - the birth of a female Pygmy hippopotamus calf at Taronga Zoo (the region’s first surviving calf since 2017); and the long-awaited completion of the Hippopotamus IRA.

Unfortunately, Taronga Zoo’s bull Pygmy hippopotamus, Fergus, passed away in 2024. Fergus is survived by his two daughters, Kamina and Lololi.

The main event of 2025 will be the anticipated import of a bull Common hippopotamus by Werribee Open Range Zoo.

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Common Hippopotamus

Taronga Western Plains Zoo:

0.1 Nile (15/05/1999) Ollie x Suzie
0.1 Cuddles (00/09/2002) Fonzie x Solucky
0.1 Kibibi (11/09/2014) Mana x Cuddles
0.1 Kendi (25/05/2017) Mana x Cuddles

Werribee Open Range Zoo:

0.1 Primrose (01/12/1990) Harold x Genevieve
0.1 Tulip (01/01/2003) Harold x Primrose
0.1 Lotus (28/03/2008) Harold x Primrose

Monarto Safari Park:

0.1 Brindabella (09/12/1990) Harold x Beatrice
0.1 Pansy (18/11/2013) Harold x Brindabella

Total regional population: 0.9

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Pygmy Hippopotamus

Taronga Zoo:

0.1 Kambiri (26/06/2010) Timmy x Petre
0.1 Lololi (16/01/2024) Fergus x Kambiri

Melbourne Zoo:

1.0 Felix (17/11/2006) Frank x Fluffy

Adelaide Zoo:

1.0 Obi (25/05/2015) Felix x Petre

Darling Downs Zoo:

0.1 Kamina (21/02/2017) Fergus x Kambiri

Total regional population: 2.3

————————————————————
 
Jambo said:
Australasia Hippo Longevity Records

Here's a list of the eight Common hippos who've exceeded 40+ years in Australasian zoos:

1. Brutus (1965-2020) died aged 54 years, 11 months
2. Dizzie (1899-1952) died aged 53 years
3. Snorkel (1959-2010) died aged 50 years, 11 months
4. Susie (1967-2017) died aged 49 years, 7 months
5. Suzie (1970-2016) died aged 46 years, 5 months
6. Newsboy (1932-1977) died aged 45 years, 7 months
7. Billy (1950-1992+) was still alive at 42 years of age
7. Faith (1975-2016) died aged 41 years, 7 months
8. Kabete (1953-1993) died aged 40 years

There's a high chance Lindy lived until 40. She last gave birth at age 39. There's also a chance Genevieve reached her 40's, as she was last confirmed alive at the age of 36.
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I know this is an old post, but something notable to point out is that Dizzie, who according to several sources I found was 55 years old as of 1952 (actually born in 1897) and died that year or the next aged 55 or 56 years old, would have given him the title of oldest ever Nile Hippo in Australia, and also the former captive longevity record for a Nile Hippo in the world! Dizzie, if his age was indeed correct, would hold that record for nearly four decades until a female hippo in Munich Zoo surpassed that age in the early 90s and later lived to be 61. He held the age record for a male Nile Hippo until Blackie at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo (1953-2014) passed him in age sometime around 2010.
 
Nile Hippo Expert said:
I know this is an old post, but something notable to point out is that Dizzie, who according to several sources I found was 55 years old as of 1952 (actually born in 1897) and died that year or the next aged 55 or 56 years old, would have given him the title of oldest ever Nile Hippo in Australia, and also the former captive longevity record for a Nile Hippo in the world! Dizzie, if his age was indeed correct, would hold that record for nearly four decades until a female hippo in Munich Zoo surpassed that age in the early 90s and later lived to be 61. He held the age record for a male Nile Hippo until Blackie at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo (1953-2014) passed him in age sometime around 2010.
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Dizzie lived at Moore Park and also at Wirth’s Circus for a period of time. Once source (1930) said he arrived at Moore Park as a calf 30 years ago, which is supported by the earliest mention I can find of Dizzie being from December 1900, describing “her” as growing fast and chasing the keepers. Dizzie was mis-sexed and originally called “Lizzie”, then renamed shortly after Fatima arrived in 1932.

It’s reasonable to assume Dizzie was 2-3 years old in 1900 from the account given, dating his birth at circa 1898.

Good to see a tennis ball never got Dizzie! One article I found detailed steps Taronga staff had made to guard against people throwing tennis balls to the hippos (following an incident at Perth). Interestingly, of the nine known deaths by tennis ball, not one occurred at Taronga.
 
Zoofan15 said:
Dizzie lived at Moore Park and also at Wirth’s Circus for a period of time. Once source (1930) said he arrived at Moore Park as a calf 30 years ago, which is supported by the earliest mention I can find of Dizzie being from December 1900, describing “her” as growing fast and chasing the keepers. Dizzie was mis-sexed and originally called “Lizzie”, then renamed shortly after Fatima arrived in 1932.

It’s reasonable to assume Dizzie was 2-3 years old in 1900 from the account given, dating his birth at circa 1898.

Good to see a tennis ball never got Dizzie! One article I found detailed steps Taronga staff had made to guard against people throwing tennis balls to the hippos (following an incident at Perth).
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Interesting to see how he was thought female, I have heard of several female hippos being misgendered as male, but Dizzie is the first instance I have heard of where a male hippo was initially believed to be female. Also on another note, I just found out that Newsboy (1932-1977) at Adelaide Zoo was the oldest living Nile Hippo in the world at the time of his death. Guess the staff there learned from their mistake after they lost Edward to a tennis ball, as Newsboy (and years later Brutus and Suzie), were able to live full, long lives unharmed by tennis balls!
 
Nile Hippo Expert said:
Interesting to see how he was thought female, I have heard of several female hippos being misgendered as male, but Dizzie is the first instance I have heard of where a male hippo was initially believed to be female. Also on another note, I just found out that Newsboy (1932-1977) at Adelaide Zoo was the oldest living Nile Hippo in the world at the time of his death. Guess the staff there learned from their mistake after they lost Edward to a tennis ball, as Newsboy (and years later Brutus and Suzie), were able to live full, long lives unharmed by tennis balls!
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The size difference between bulls and cows is quite marked, so I guess lacking a cow to compare against meant they couldn’t go off size alone. The testes in hippopotami are internal; and although it’s still apparent when you see a bull that they’re a bull, it’s something that’s more visible in their Pygmy counterparts by virtue of the Common hippopotamus being submerged in water the majority of the day. I should also note that Dizzie remained as Lizzie for years after the discovery he was male was made, so for all we know the confusion only lasted long enough to name the new calf!

Yes, Edward (died 1928) was Adelaide’s only loss of a hippo via tennis ball. Perth’s only recorded death by tennis ball followed in 1930; with these deaths preceding four at Melbourne and three at Auckland. In addition to these nine deaths, at least one lad was apprehended in the process of trying to throw a ball down a hippopotamus’ mouth; and there were undoubtedly other near misses over the years.
 
Zoofan15 said:
Yes, Edward (died 1928) was Adelaide’s only loss of a hippo via tennis ball. Perth’s only recorded death by tennis ball followed in 1930; with these deaths preceding four at Melbourne and three at Auckland. In addition to these nine deaths, at least one lad was apprehended in the process of trying to throw a ball down a hippopotamus’ mouth; and there were undoubtedly other near misses over the years.
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A similar story about hippos and balls happened at the Cincinnati Zoo many decades ago, as they had hippos die from swallowing balls (and other weird objects) in 1937, 1941, and 1954. In fact, the hippo there who died in 1937 was also found to have some weird things in their throat, such as several pennies and even a battery! The animal which died in 1941 was not even a week old when it swallowed a racket ball and died. Hippos actually remained in an exhibit until 1997 where people could throw things into the exhibit, so it is kind of a shock that they didn't lose anymore hippos that way.

On another note, do you know which zoo and possibly which animal it was that nearly got a ball down their throat that one time you mentioned?
 
Nile Hippo Expert said:
On another note, do you know which zoo and possibly which animal it was that nearly got a ball down their throat that one time you mentioned?
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I’ve been unable to find the article, but am reasonably sure it was Bonnie (1956-1982) at Auckland Zoo. Apparently a keeper happened upon the scene and using a stick (or similar), hooked the ball out of its mouth.

I did however find this article discussing preventative measures put in place at Melbourne Zoo in 1933 (following the deaths at Perth and Adelaide):

To prevent a possible similar death at the Melbourne Zoo, Mr. Wllkle had the surrounding fence raised from 6 feet to 9 feet to stop persons hurling objects straight Into their mouths.

One of the worst examples of stupidity at the Melbourne Zoo. said the director, was an attempt to throw a bottle Into the mouth of one of the hippos. Luckily the bottle missed and shattered on the stone flooring. The animal had to be kept In a corner until the fragments were cleared up. Had the bottle landed In Its mouth it probably would have meant the death of the hippo.

Source: Townsville Daily Bulletin (August 09, 1933).

Unfortunately their efforts were in vain with Melbourne losing William in late 1933; Rosamund in 1947; Esmeralda in 1961; and Rangi in 1968 - all to tennis balls. In January 1934, half a tennis ball was found outside the exhibit. It was believed somebody had cut it in half in an attempt to wedge it through the protective netting that had been installed to guard against that purpose.
 
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Trua said:
Wonder whether a bull has been selected yet!
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I hope that as we start a new year in 2025 that it will be a good one for Hippos of both species. After the long awaited Hippo IRA is now complete that the respective zoos are trying to obtain a bull Hippo for each of the 3 open range zoos we have. Also hopefully that Taronga and the DDZ can obtain a new import bull Pygmy Hippo each to match with the two current cows.
Since there is apparently are more female Pygmy Hippo females in captivity than males perhaps that might work in favour of both Melbourne Zoo and Adelaide Zoo acquiring a female each and kick start a new and long awaited hippo breeding program nation wide wide, In fact I would love to see a couple of New Zealand zoos jump on the band wagon and obtain some Pygmy hippos.

I believe if we see a growth in Hippo numbers over the next few years we may see some new holders jump on board which would be great to shore up the numbers for the long term prospects for both species!
 
Zorro said:
I hope that as we start a new year in 2025 that it will be a good one for Hippos of both species. After the long awaited Hippo IRA is now complete that the respective zoos are trying to obtain a bull Hippo for each of the 3 open range zoos we have. Also hopefully that Taronga and the DDZ can obtain a new import bull Pygmy Hippo each to match with the two current cows.
Since there is apparently are more female Pygmy Hippo females in captivity than males perhaps that might work in favour of both Melbourne Zoo and Adelaide Zoo acquiring a female each and kick start a new and long awaited hippo breeding program nation wide wide, In fact I would love to see a couple of New Zealand zoos jump on the band wagon and obtain some Pygmy hippos.
I believe if we see a growth in Hippo numbers over the next few years we may see some new holders jump on board which would be great to shore up the numbers for the long term prospects!
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To date, the only publicly confirmed import is that of a bull Common hippopotamus by Werribee Open Range Zoo. At most I’d expect to see one one additional bull imported as if all three of Australia’s open range zoos (i.e. the only holders of Common hippopotamus) imported bulls and began breeding, it would be difficult to place the offspring (especially bull calves) outside of those facilities. That’s actually why zoos like Auckland ceased breeding in the 90’s because nobody wanted the offspring.

It’s been reported in the Melbourne news thread by @austrlain zoo gower that the current interest as a region is around importing female Pygmy hippopotamus rather than males. This is likely due to the greater surplus of females to males overseas.

Nothing would please me more than to see hippopotamus return to New Zealand, but it will require an Import Health Standard. I personally would have preferred to have seen the Common hippopotamus exhibit at Auckland Zoo redeveloped for Pygmy hippopotamus rather than used to extend the savannah - especially given the rhinoceros seldom utilise this area (and never go in the substantial body of water).
 
Zorro said:
Since there is apparently are more female Pygmy Hippo females in captivity than males perhaps that might work in favour of both Melbourne Zoo and Adelaide Zoo acquiring a female each and kick start a new and long awaited hippo breeding program nation wide wide, In fact I would love to see a couple of New Zealand zoos jump on the band wagon and obtain some Pygmy hippos.
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Problem with Adelaide at this point in time is that they don't have the facilities to accommodate an additional hippo, and then any potential offspring too.

The plan is to build a new Pygmy Hippo enclosure in the new African Oasis precinct but it interestingly only seems to show a single exhibit. Perhaps this plan will be changed now that the IRA has been completed and they can acquire a female to pair with Obi. However either way, the African Oasis will still follow the extension of the current Tiger complex which seems to be the priority.
 
Jambo said:
Problem with Adelaide at this point in time is that they don't have the facilities to accommodate an additional hippo, and then any potential offspring too.

The plan is to build a new Pygmy Hippo enclosure in the new African Oasis precinct but it interestingly only seems to show a single exhibit. Perhaps this plan will be changed now that the IRA has been completed and they can acquire a female to pair with Obi. However either way, the African Oasis will still follow the extension of the current Tiger complex which seems to be the priority.
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Correct. I doubt we’ll see Adelaide Zoo breeding Pygmy hippopotamus when the region already has Melbourne Zoo and Taronga Zoo equipped to breed the species.

Since Pygmy hippopotamus are usually housed alone once independent from the mother, consideration of where to place Pygmy hippopotamus calves will be even more of a concern versus Common hippopotamus - where females can typically remain in their natal pod. With this in mind, I doubt the region will have a wealth of facilities breeding Pygmy hippopotamus (at most two).

One of countless possibilities is that Taronga’s cows could be dispersed to Adelaide and a new holder respectively; and then Obi could come to Taronga to be paired with an imported cow.
 
Zoofan15 said:
Correct. I doubt we’ll see Adelaide Zoo breeding Pygmy hippopotamus when the region already has Melbourne Zoo and Taronga Zoo equipped to breed the species.

Since Pygmy hippopotamus are usually housed alone once independent from the mother, consideration of where to place Pygmy hippopotamus calves will be even more of a concern versus Common hippopotamus - where females can typically remain in their natal pod. With this in mind, I doubt the region will have a wealth of facilities breeding Pygmy hippopotamus (at most two).

One of countless possibilities is that Taronga’s cows could be dispersed to Adelaide and a new holder respectively; and then Obi could come to Taronga to be paired with an imported cow.
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If there are indeed a female surplus, then sending Obi to Taronga to breed (with an imported female) would make the most sense. I know Sydney Zoo had interest in holding both Common and Pygmy Hippos initially so perhaps they may be interested in coming on board as a non breeding holder to support the regional breeding program.

In the past forty or so years we've pretty much only had one facility breeding at a time so the region will ultimately have to get additional regional holders on board to support the program if they wish to have multiple facilities breeding this species (which is in the program's best interests).

I don't foresee this being an issue however considering they're a relatively easy species to hold and would do wonders popularity wise for the smaller regional zoos.
 
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