Anounced on Facebook today: "Sadly the difficult decision was made to humanely put Janice the Pygmy Hippo to sleep as her quality of life had significantly deteriorated due to various age related illnesses. Janice was one of the zoo’s longest standing residents arriving here in 1979. During her time here she raised one baby, Petre born in 1984 who currently resides in Melbourne Zoo. She will be sorely missed by staff, volunteers and the public. RIP Janice!"
Well that explains why they told us all exhibits were on show but the Pygmy hippo's, when we went to the zoo on Wednesday.
That's sad I always wonder about what Adelaide Zoo is going to do in the future when more of their aging animals pass away. What will happen to the pygmy hippo exhibit now? And the common hippo exhibit when its inhabitants pass away? Likewise, the sloths, Malayan tapirs, flamingos etc. The all have quite specialized exhibits but all of these species aren't particularly common in the region and will be hard to replace.
