Denver mourns death of oldest hippo
REUTERS
DENVER — Denver Zoo was mourning the death Monday of Bertie, a 58-year-old male hippopotamus who was its longest resident and the oldest hippo accredited to a North American zoo, officials said.
Bertie was humanely euthanized after his keepers saw “a significant decline in his quality of life due to his advanced age,” the zoo said in a statement. Most hippos live about 30 to 40 years in the wild and up to 50 in zoos.
“This is a very sad loss for Denver Zoo and our community. Bert was a member of our family for more than 50 years,” zoo President and Chief Executive Shannon Block said.
“He will be missed by all of us, including the many families and children who visited him and came to know his charismatic personality over the years,” Block said in the statement.
The zoo said Bertie’s appetite recently had decreased noticeably and that he had become less consistently interested in training sessions with his keepers. He also became more reluctant to leave his pool and showed some difficulty walk- ing.
The zoo said veterinarians were limited in their treatment options because he had not responded well to medications.
Bertie arrived in 1958 from New York’s Central Park Zoo. He is the father of every hippo calf born at Denver Zoo, which said he had sired 29 offspring with two mates. One of them, Bertie’s 12-yearold son, Mahali, is the only hippo now at the zoo.