On a gorgeous Fall day in Texas, I had the chance to visit the San Antonio Zoo, and see the new baby hippo. Baby (gender unknown and not yet named) was born October 9, 2001, to Tumbo & Uma. I had a chance to talk to several of the hippo keepers, who are some of the friendliest people I have ever met! They patiently put up with me as I badgered them with question after question :-)

[Feb 2002: The baby hippo is a girl, and they named her Karen.]

On the next few pages are some pictures I took that day. The hippos have a pond/pool to swim in, and a dry area where they eat. When I was there, they were keeping Tumbo (the Dad) away from Uma & her baby. Just until they can make sure everyone will be friends. Here are a couple of pics that show the layout of the hippo area:

Here you can see Uma in the pool, and Tumbo at the top of the ramp, waiting to join his mate in the pool.

The plaque outside the hippo's pool

Hey, how did that card get there?

Ok, ready for some hippo pictures? Let's go to the next page....