00:03Hi, I'm Keeper 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
00:26the 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
00:40to 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
00:47pool.
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.
01:12The water cannon that we have here at the River Hippopotamus Exhibit is a very special treat.
01:13Immediately Funani came over and she started to just chomp down on that wreath.
01:17And Debbie was close behind her.
01:19And once she knew that it was okay and 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.
01:33The water cannon that we have here at the River Hippo exhibit is actually a security camera mounting
01:40that we have on our catwalk.
01:41Keepers many years ago developed this tool that we could use to offer a little bit of water massage,
01:46which 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.
02:03Next time you make your way to the San Diego Zoo, come by the River Hippopotamus Exhibit
02:07and see the underwater viewing area.
02:09You'll get the chance to see them right up close.
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