Detroit Zoo Commercial

One of the highlights of Hippo's national tour of zoos has been the Detroit Zoo. The animals there were all very professional and musically talented. This commercial from the 1980's gives a taste:

Thawing out the Zoo

Hippo stayed warm indoors during the blizzards. But now that the snow is melting, he took Aurora out for a stroll through the zoo.

Looks like the sloth bears haven't shoveled their walking paths yet. So lazy...

The elephant walk is very pretty under a blanket of snow. But it'd look even better with some snow elephants.

Poor Bronze panda hasn't had his ears scritched or snout rubbed in a week.

Momma panda is happily munching in the sunshine.

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.

Festival of Lights

While we were out walking through ZooLights, Hippo asked if he could take a few pictures himself. He had a little trouble holding the camera steady, what with the shivers and excitement and all. But he seemed to capture the essence of the festive lights.

ZooLights

A favorite holiday tradition for Hippo is dressing warm on a cold December night and going for a very special walk through the National Zoo.

It's ZooLights!

The trails are ablaze with festive lights.

And glowing animals appear around every corner.

Even tropical birds enjoy the festivities.

Hippo has stars in his eyes.

Tigers prowl the forest.

Chasing after butterflies.

The light pandas are munching happily.

And the fuzzy pandas are snoozing. Tai Shan must have gotten tired packing for his big trip to China.

A family of elephants is stomping through the grass.

And making it hard to hold the camera steady.

It's not quite cold enough to build snowhippos yet. But the water is definitely too cold for a swim.

We should go warm up in the barn.

The alpacas are getting cozy in their beds and probably wondering what's with all the late night visitors.

But the goats are already fast asleep.

A squirrel is outside juggling acorns.

And a pumpkin is grazing on the – wait, pumpkins aren't animals. Pumpkins are food! Mmm, food…

Nothing can be more satisfying after a brisk walk in the cold than warm cinnamon donuts and hot chocolate.

Happy and the Girls

Long time Washingtonian Happy the Hippo is relaxing in the pool at his new home in Milwaukee. He recently discovered a couple of eligible hippo ladies right next door:

Puddles, 33, shorter and a bit heftier at 2,900 pounds, is the offspring of Pinky and Patti. She was born in Milwaukee. She and Happy seem to have hit it off. They have been seen licking each other, although hippos are also known to lick the floor.

Is a steel "howdy gate" enough to keep these two lovers apart? Read the article in the Washington Post for more juicy details!

Happy Embraces a Whole New Dating Pool

Conservation Center

One of Hippo's favorite places in the world is Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, DC. He heard rumors that they have a farm where they raise endangered animals. So in October we drove out to Front Royal, Virginia to visit the critters during a special open house.


Lots of families with children were visiting too. But as far as we know, Hippo was the only hippo there.


It's important to protect delicate snouts from the sun.


Some big boys and girls played army on a hilltop. They galloped around, fired rifles, and hit targets with sabers while riding on horseback.


There was a long wait to see the rare clouded leopard cubs, so Hippo took the time to plan the rest of his visit.


The clouded leopards were worth the wait. They engaged in a wrestling match to keep us entertained.


Hippo found some chalk and left his mark on a wall.


He also left a message for the Zoo's recent graduate, Happy the Hippopotamus.


Hippo made friends with the local wildlife at the visitor center in Shenandoah National Park.


The view from Skyline Drive through the Park was spectacular.

Mountain Hippo

I try to take my staff on fun outings as often as possible, so one day we drove to the Catoctin Mountains for a nature walk. Instead of the national park, we decided to go to the Cunningham Falls State Park where we walked on a nature trail up to the falls...

...and down to the lake.


We also went to the Cactoctin Wildlife Preserve and Zoo!


It is a very small zoo, so no hippos here except me (and any other visiting small companion hippos). They do have a very interesting educational poster, though.


My name in Swahili is "Kiboko."


There are some real zoo animals like monkeys, tigers, and these tangoing tortoises.


And a lot of friendlier animals that you can skritch and feed!




We even went to one of the animal encounters. Unlike the big zoos, the show let us get really close to some of the unusual and non-dangerous animals. I even got to touch a prickly hedgehog!