Zoo Presents

It was a cold January in Washington, D.C., so Hippo spent most of his time inside enjoying all his fun Christmas presents:


A snazzy tie, lots of candy, a paper hippo art project, some zoo animals, and a National Zoo T-shirt!


Hippo did venture out to visit Tai Shan and show him his National Zoo spirit.


But Tai Shan was more interested in munching on bamboo.


The Przewalski's horses never seems to mind cold weather.


But the cows seem frozen in place.


The orangutans enjoy playing ghost. Or abominable snowman.

Little Christmas

Today is Epiphany / Feast of the Three Kings, a holiday marking the end of the Twelve Days of Christmas and celebrating the arrival of three kings bearing gifts. Hippo is waiting patiently to give and receive all our own little hippo gifts tonight.


In the meantime we'll be shaking the presents, snacking on carrots and cookies, and playing games. We hope you have a day just as fun. Merry Little Christmas!

Plentiful gifts

Apparently Hippo was very good this year. The Three Kings and other humans showered gifts upon him. Just opening them all was exhausting.


In addition to the festive sombrero he received early, Hippo also got a warm knit sweater to keep him toasty through the winter. In the spring he can play with his new baseball bat, ball, and glove.


He also has his very own little hippo-sized game of Hungry Hungry Hippos. There's a book about another young hippo who was adopted by an old, old tortoise. And Hippo has a travel-sized tiny hippo playmate, Smiley.

Little Christmas

HippO, HippO, HippO!

Hippo has had a looong wait to open his presents. We traditionally open gifts on Epiphany, also known as the Feast of the Three Kings or Little Christmas. That's today. Hurray!