Flamingo Land 'couldn’t be happier' with miracle baby hippo's progress at zoo near Malton
Flamingo Land’s first baby hippopotamus calf born in 20 years is ‘no so little’ anymore, with the calf going from strength to strength after a rather rocky start.
The calf is the first Nile Hippopotamus birth in over 20 years at Flamingo Land and the first successful birth in seven years in the UK.
The hippo calf was named Aurora after the northern lights illuminating the UK skies the week she was born back in May.
The Nile Hippopotamus is listed as a very vulnerable species. The EAZA European breeding programme identified Godzilla (Aurora’s mum) as the most important female hippo in Europe, so it was vital for her to produce offspring.
After her birth, the keepers and veterinary team at Flamingo Land were concerned that Godzilla was not feeding Aurora.
Aurora was taken to a veterinary hospital in Malton and following a 24-hour stay, she was discharged. She returned to Flamingo Land where the keepers provided around-the-clock care.
Since then she has gone from strength to strength, putting on weight well and growing bigger every day. At her last weight check-in she was a healthy 67kg.
A Flamingo Land spokesperson said via Instagram: “Here’s a little update on our ‘not so little’ girl.
“After her rocky start to life, our keepers have been very happy with her progress.
“She has improved her bottle feeding, grown confidence in her pool and can now get in and out of her pool all by herself (kind of).
“Our keepers couldn’t be happier with Aurora’s progress!”
Aurora also has an unusual playmate at the zoo - a baby Caribbean Flamingo, which was born on June 18. Flamingos get their pink colouration from their diet, such as molluscs and small shrimp-like aquatic invertebrates.
This baby is not ready for those types of foods yet, so is a much subtler colour than their parents.
Visit https://www.flamingoland.co.uk/ to find out more.