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Happy the Hippopotamus
On September 28, the National Zoo said goodbye to Happy, our Nile hippopotamus. He was moved to a larger exhibit at the Milwaukee County Zoo, where he will live with two female hippos. We were sad to see him go, but this move is in Happy's best interest. We know that many of you are longtime fans of his.
Happy was born at the National Zoo on January 4, 1981, to parents Arusha and Joe Smith. Because he was born so close to New Year's Day, he was called Happy for "Happy New Year." He was his parents' 18th, and last, calf. Happy weighs about 5,000 pounds and is ten feet and eight inches long.
Video and Photos
Moving Hippos
Happy was the 22nd hippo born here at the Zoo and one of many to be relocated to other zoos. He and his relatives are part of a herd of hippos across North America that helps inspire and educate people about wildlife. As part of this herd, many of these hippos move between zoos to so that they have an opportunity to live and breed with other hippos, ensuring that we will all have hippos in our zoos and in the wild for many years to come.
Why Did Happy Have to Move?
Happy needed more space—larger pools and more land. Also, hippos are social animals; they live in herds. We wanted to find him a bigger exhibit and other hippos to live with. We hope that he might even some day be a father. Providing him with that type of life here could cost more than $50 million, and right now, the Zoo is committed to other major projects. The most important project right now is fire prevention and safety, as this affects the care and safety of all of our animals. We are investing more than $25 million to install and upgrade our fire prevention and water systems. We're improving the exhibits for many of our animals, including Elephant Trails, a new habitat for Asian elephants. Unfortunately, we have limited funds, so we can't afford to do everything we want to do.
Why Doesn't Elephant Trails Include a Hippo Trail?
When we decided to build Elephant Trails, we looked into building a state-of-the-art habitat for Happy. We found that could cost more than $50 million to build a modern hippo habitat with room for several hippos. We just don't have enough funds. We wish we did. We have more than 350 species at the zoo and at our Conservation and Research facility in Front Royal, Virginia, and we need to make sure all of them receive the same excellent level of care and attention.
Were We Sad to See Happy Go?
Of course we were sad! We will miss him a lot. He is a force all his own, and everyone at the Zoo will feel his absence. But animal care is one of the National Zoo's highest priorities, and we have to do what's best for the animals, whether or not it makes us sad. We are trying very hard to do what's best for everyone.
Why Are We Building Such a Big Elephant Exhibit?
Elephants are enormous animals. That is part of what fascinates people about them, along with their charisma, their complicated social structure and their remarkable intelligence. However, caring for such large animals isn't easy. Bulls (males) in particular are difficult, because at some points in their life they have to be kept apart from cows (females) and calves, as they would be in the wild. They are also the largest, strongest land mammal on Earth. Most zoos don't have the facilities to house a bull elephant safely, so many zoos have opted not to keep them. As a result, the current population of elephants in North American zoos isn't self-sustaining. Unless something changes, there won't be many elephants left in zoos over the next 50 years, and maybe none at all. This is a serious problem, not only for people who love to see elephants at the zoo, but also because Asian elephants are endangered. There are fewer than 30,000 left in the wild, a fraction of a historic population that ranged all over Asia. The more we learn about elephants, both here at the Zoo and in the wild, the better chance we have to protect them.
The Zoo has a long history of conserving Asian elephants, both in the field in Asia and at the Zoo. We've been conducting extensive research programs for this species, both here and in the wild, for decades, and we work every day to ensure the best care for elephants in zoos and the species' survival in the wild. One of the many ways we are committed to making a better future for elephants is by breeding them. First, though, we have to renovate our elephant habitat. We've learned a lot about Asian elephants over the years, and now it's time for us to build the best home possible for our herd. Elephants are extremely social creatures with a very complex social structure. They need room to be together as a herd, so our new habitat will give them an "elephant community center" where they can be together in any kind of weather. The exhibit will be able to house more than eight elephants, and includes a long walking path for them, so they can walk more, as they do in the wild. It also features special housing for the bulls, so that we can handle them safely and keep them apart from the rest of the herd when they need to be. This is extremely important as Kandula, our seven-year-old calf, is approaching maturity. Find out more about the features of Elephant Trails.
Won't Happy Miss His Home?
We'll never really know what Happy is thinking. However, we know he needs a new and bigger exhibit, and we know it would be better for him to live with other hippos. And we also know that we, and all of you, will miss Happy, but we're doing what is best for him.
Happy's new home, the Milwaukee County Zoo, is expanding its hippo exhibit to include larger pools and an underwater viewing area. He will share his exhibit with two female hippos, Puddles and Patti, and we hope someday he'll have calves of his own.
Will He Ever Come back?
The National Zoo has a long history with hippos—we've had them since the original Elephant House was built more than 70 years ago. We certainly hope to bring hippos back at some point in the future! But only when we have a great exhibit to offer them. The Zoo is undergoing a major master planning effort. Learn more about our future dreams.
Is This Really for the Best?
Sometimes doing the right thing is hard. Animals move between zoos all the time as exhibit requirements change, for breeding purposes, or for their own well-being. Even Happy's keepers say that, although they will miss Happy, this is the best thing for him.
Thank you again for your interest in Happy, our staff, and the National Zoo.
