RAMAT GAN, Israel (Reuters) - A five-year-old hippopotamus named Lieber died in an Israeli safari park on Wednesday as he was being castrated by an international medical team. A German veterinarian jumped up and down on the unconscious animal’s 1.5-tonne body in an unsuccessful effort to restart Lieber’s heart, which had stopped after a second dose of anesthetic was administered to repair a torn suture. Sagit Horowitz, a spokeswoman for the Ramat Gan Safari Park near Tel Aviv, said its hippo herd of 40 was the largest in captivity in the world and officials feared any further population growth could lead to aggression among the animals. Four other males at the park survived their castration and another was scheduled to undergo the procedure later in the day, she said. “The risk involved is very high, we knew (this) before we started,” said Austrian vet Chris Walzer who came to Israel along with two colleagues, a German and Frenchman, to castrate the hippos, whose testicles are internal. (Additional reporting by Rami Amichai, writing by Ori Lewis in Jerusalem) Quote It really must be amazing to see a exhibit of 40 hippos. Is there a river runing through there exhibit? How else do they deal with all that waste???
It must be indeed. West Midlands Safari park in Uk has the largest group in the UK -but still only about eight animals. When I went the lake they live in, which is not filtered, was foul with black stagnant water. This other exhibit must have some sort of filtration I guess.
Hippos don't handle anasthaesia very well at all - mortality rates are quite high compared to a lot of other species. Carrying their testes internally makes the job of castration more difficult too. There must be a better way to handle over-population problems. Incidentally some "genius" decided to castrate the only male hippo in New Zealand a few years ago, and no more can be imported into the region. There are now viable females there and no way to breed with them. Madness!!!!!
That's ridiculous. Why can't you import some? It sounds like NZ and Ramat Gan could do themselves both a favour and take on a few makes. It might well prevent another death.
