Another Hippo arrives at Chattogram Zoo
Chattogram Zoo welcomed a female hippo today from Dhaka National Zoo as part of an exchange programme that saw a pair of tigers transferred to Rangpur Zoo.
The nine-year-old female hippo weighs 900kg and has been named 'Jalpori'. The hippo brought from Dhaka National Zoo arrived at around 5am and was released in the cage where the previously brought male hippo named 'Lal Pahar' was accommodated", said Shahadat Hossain Shubho, the deputy curator of Chattogram Zoo.
"We were scheduled to bring both the hippos on 21 September. As the hippos were too heavy to carry we had to change the decision and bring them one by one. We brought the male one on that day and the female one arrived today", the official said.
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Earlier in April this year the zoo authority took the initiative to add a pair of hippos in exchange for a pair of tigers under an exchange programme.
In six years of successful breeding, an adorable couple of tigers, "Raj-Pori", gave birth to 14 cubs, making the total number of tigers in the zoo 16. Although Raj and Pori have orange fur with black stripes, five of their 14 offspring are white with black stripes.
Chattogram Zoo, which was established on 28 February 1989 in Foy's Lake area of the port city, now has expanded to 10 acres.
The zoo houses and exhibits over 620 animals of 68 species, including white tiger, lion, bear, crocodile, various kinds of deer and monkeys, chimpanzee, owl, porcupine, jackal, civet, zebra, peacock, ostrich, emu, pheasant, parrot, falcon, vulture, turkey, pigeons of various species, pythons and snakes.
An average of 3,000 visitors flock to see the animals at the zoo every day. The zoo earns approximately Tk50 crore per year from ticket sales.
