World Hippo Day Celebrated At Nehru Zoological Park
Hyderabad: World Hippo Day celebrated at Nehru Zoological Park with an awareness programme at the hippopotamus enclosure on February 15. The zoo organised the event to promote wildlife education and public awareness. Officials arranged a special feeding session for the four resident hippos. Visitors gathered to observe the celebrations and learn about the species.
As part of the programme, zoo staff prepared four special feed cakes. Each cake weighed about five kilograms. The feed included wheat bran, pellets, mash feed, jaggery and wheat roti. In addition, vegetables such as kheera, carrot and green garbanzo beans were added. Fruits including banana, apple, sapota, guava, watermelon, muskmelon and pineapple were also used.
The zoo feed store prepared the cakes under the supervision of Smt J Manjula, FSO and in charge of the feed store. The cakes were served to the four hippopotamuses named Parvathi, Rajitha, Gajini and Rama.
World Hippo Day celebrated at Nehru Zoological Park
J Muralidhar, Deputy Curator of the zoo, attended as chief guest. He addressed visitors and explained the ecological importance of hippopotamuses. He said hippos are found in sub Saharan Africa. They are the third largest land mammals after elephants and rhinoceroses.
Males are called bulls and can weigh up to 2000 kilograms. Females are called cows and can weigh up to 1500 kilograms. Hippos live in groups known as herds. A dominant male protects the herd. In captivity, their lifespan ranges between 45 and 50 years.
Officials stated that hippos are semi aquatic and spend most of their time in water. They are pure herbivores and graze mainly at night. An adult hippo consumes about 100 kilograms of feed daily.
The zoo informed that Parvathi, a female hippo aged about 52 years, is among the oldest in captivity and remains active and in good health. Several officers and zoo volunteers attended the programme. They included Sri Karunakar, Deputy Range Officer, Sri H M Hanifulla, PRO, Sri Ch Deepak Tarun, ZEO, and Sri S Devender, Animal Keeper.
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