Hip hip hooray! Today, Adelaide Zoo is celebrating a very special birthday.
One of the newest, and arguably cutest, members of our Zoo family, Obi the Pygmy Hippo, is turning one!
To mark this special milestone, keepers are throwing Obi a very special birthday party complete with a yummy fruit and vegetable cake!
Adelaide Zoo keeper Mary Johnson says Obi is settling in well to his new home after arriving from Melbourne Zoo earlier this month.
She said the birthday boy would be very excited to enjoy his first birthday cake.
“Obi is doing really well. He’s eating well and getting used to his new routine, although he does love to sleep in,” Mary says.
“Keepers have been spoiling him with lots of attention and enrichment as he gets used to his new surroundings. He loves to be hand fed and has developed a special liking for endive!
“He’s very inquisitive and has enjoyed exploring his new home, and especially loves swimming!”
Pygmy Hippopotamus are native to western Africa, found mainly in the rivers and swamps of Liberia but also in Sierra Leone, Guinea, and the Ivory Coast.
Classified as endangered in the wild due to both habitat loss and poaching, regional and international breeding programs for the species are critically important for safeguarding this remarkable species for the future.
Obi is the offspring of Petre, who at 23, said goodbye to Adelaide Zoo to be a part of a breeding program at Taronga Zoo. After breeding successfully at Taronga Zoo, Petre then journeyed to Melbourne Zoo in December 2012 to breed with a different male.
