Turns Out, All This Hippo Needs for Joy Is a Water Cannon!.mp4

She also got her favorite sweet treat.

Transcript

00:00Hi, I'm Kiefer Jen, and we're here at the River Hippopotamus Exhibit celebrating Debbie's first birthday.

00:14During the party we had lots of activities for the hippos to enjoy.

00:18We had a water cannon.

00:20We had a wreath that was in the shape of 100 made out of browse materials from right here at the zoo.

00:26And we also had some pieces of watermelon that we tossed in for the girls.

00:34We tossed the watermelon into the pool, and I believe that Funani was a little upset that we didn't try to make it right in her mouth.

00:41We made her work for it a little bit, but she is certainly keen to the current system of our pool,

00:48and she just waited until that watermelon floated right up to her mouth.

00:52Well, certainly River Hippopotamus in Africa do not get watermelon.

00:57But fortunately here at the zoo, a favorite treat is something sweet, and they rarely get watermelon.

01:02More often they get apples or they get honeydew.

01:05So a very special treat for them.

01:07Immediately, Funani came over, and she started to just chomp down on that wreath.

01:17And Debbie was close behind her, and once she knew that it was okay,

01:22and that Funani gave her the stamp of approval for that wreath,

01:26then she was all over it.

01:27She was dragging it all over the pool.

01:29It was fun to watch.

01:29The water cannon that we have here at the River Hippo exhibit

01:37is actually a security camera mounting that we have on our catwalk.

01:41Keepers many years ago developed this tool that we could use

01:44to offer a little bit of water massage, which hippos seem to really enjoy.

01:48And so that hose can be controlled by us down at the viewing area in the glass area

01:53where visitors can ask us questions, and we can do a little bit of a keeper talk as well.

01:57And the hippos seem to really interact with that water.

02:02Next time you make your way to the San Diego Zoo,

02:05come by the River Hippopotamus exhibit and see the underwater viewing area.

02:09You'll get the chance to see them right up close.