Hip hippo hooray, it’s a very special day!
Today, Adelaide Zoo is celebrating a birthday – Obi the lovable pygmy hippo is turning four years old.
To mark the special milestone, keepers have pulled out all the stops to spoil Obi with a special birthday party complete with a yummy fruit and vegetable cake.
Adelaide Zoo Keeper Shontel Barton said thanks to his adorable looks, Obi was a real crowd favourite among keepers and visitors alike.
“Obi is a very popular resident here at Adelaide Zoo so we expect he’ll have a number of excited visitors watching him enjoy his cake,” Shontel said.
“We have made sure to fill it with all of his absolute favourite foods, so this will definitely go down a treat!”
At one-years-old, Obi arrived at Adelaide Zoo in 2016 and weighed just 100kg. Now fully grown, he weighs around 260kg thanks to his healthy appetite for leafy greens.
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.
Here at Adelaide Zoo, Obi acts as an ambassador animal for his wild cousins, helping raise awareness for the plight of the species in the wild.
Watch Obi enjoy his cake here!
