Yes I was told this by a keeper during my visit to the Werribee Open Range Zoo.
Pablo and Kiboko were my two guesses based on the current population - It'll be interesting to see whether this eventuates.
European Nile Hippo Population
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Pablo and Kiboko were my two guesses based on the current population - It'll be interesting to see whether this eventuates.
They were scheduled to move this Summer, so there's still plenty of time. The Kralove cows would've been a priority to get into the country being imports.
Are you saying that these to bulls as yet need to be imported (or do I interpret it the wrong way and they are already on site ... just it has not been publicly communicated yet?)?
The two at Whipsnade are a mother and son. They've yet to arrive - they were scheduled to move this Summer. An article I found mentions 'late June', so it could be any week now.
cerperal
Well-Known Member
They're due to leave on the 26th June
Longleat will soonhave a total of four hippos- the two young females(sisters) from Dvur Kralov that have just arrived, plus the young bull Hodor from Whipsnade, aged around 8/9 years together with his mother Lola aged around 23/4. The latter two are scheduled to arrive shortly.
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Nile Hippo Expert
Well-Known Member
Yes, but as mentioned on the previous page, these two were born to Dvur Kralove's other unrelated breeding female hippo.
"Hodor" was born at Whipsnade 21st July 2017
"Lola" was born at Whipsnade 27th December 2003).
And Hodor was born on the 21st of July 2017. So Lola's currently twenty one, and Hodor's currently seven (but will be eight next month).
A former hippo keeper at Copenhagen Zoo shared in this Instagram post that Mette passed away earlier this year. She had accidentally swallowed a tennis ball that got stuck in her intestines and blocked everything.
The same post also mentions that the herd now consists of the two calfs from 2024 and the adult hippos Komtu and Maren. This means that Yala is no longer in Copenhagen either. It is plausible that she has moved.
I speculated Yala transferred out, and it does seem that she indeed has. It would be good to have a follow up on this.
Re. Mette, it's a shame she passed away after swallowing a tennis ball. It was common cause of death back in the 20th century within Australasian zoos (with visitors throwing tennis balls in), but I'm quite surprised to see it occur in this day and age.
Bizarrely, zoo hippos dying after swallowing tennis balls is not as unlikely as one would expect; tragically, it has also happened at London Zoo, Dublin Zoo, Flamingo Land and Frankfurt Zoo.
Nile Hippo Expert
Well-Known Member
This is just terrible, even though she was getting up there in age. This has happened many times over the last century-plus in the U.S and Australia, I don’t know why these people do things this but it happens and it is definitely the worst way for any zoo animal to die.
Nile Hippo Expert
Well-Known Member
According to an email I got from hipposworld.de, Wilhelm and Helvetia at Basel Zoo are expecting a calf in about a month.
Thank you very much for the updates.
Next week we travel to Valencia, Spain, visit Serena again, the last
calf at Basel Zoo. And then, we are waiting for Serenas little sibling,
my tip is the 20.09.2025 for the birth.
Best regards
Carsten
Thank you very much for the updates.
Next week we travel to Valencia, Spain, visit Serena again, the last
calf at Basel Zoo. And then, we are waiting for Serenas little sibling,
my tip is the 20.09.2025 for the birth.
Best regards
Carsten
Birth Announcement - Zoo Basel
A Common hippopotamus calf was born September 16:
Baby hippopotamus born at Basel Zoo
On September 16, a hippopotamus was born at the zoo. The sex and name of the calf are not yet known, as the zoo announced on Thursday.
A Common hippopotamus calf was born September 16:
Baby hippopotamus born at Basel Zoo
On September 16, a hippopotamus was born at the zoo. The sex and name of the calf are not yet known, as the zoo announced on Thursday.
Reported in the Cabarceno news thread:
Another Hippo calf has been born this year, taking the number of hippos at the zoo up to 10. The zoo has welcomed four calves as well over the last few years.