Environment

Baby hippo becomes main attraction at Mexico zoo

Guadalajara, Jul 29 (EFE).- A river baby hippopotamus has become the main attraction at the Guadalajara Zoo in western Mexico.

The baby, which has not been named yet, celebrated its first month of life on Thursday with a carrot, alfalfa and oatmeal cake, which its mother Tami ate.

The hippopotamus, an endangered species due to poaching, was born in captivity at eight months of gestation in a water birth.

The one month old is Tami and Tartufo’s third baby.

“We had to lower the water level a few days before so that the birth would be safer and we could see that the calf was safe and drinking milk,” said the zoo veterinarian.

During the first days after birth, the zoo caregivers had to bring food to the water, where Tami the mother preferred to breastfeed and sleep with her little one, who is described as a very restless calf who likes to explore its surroundings.

The baby hippo weighs some 50kg, but as an adult will weigh between one and a half to three tons and will eat at least two kilos of food a day.

For the time being, the mother and child remain alone in a pond far from dad Tartufo, to protect the baby from any possible accident. EFE

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