Hippos Returning To Dallas Zoo Next Year
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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - The Dallas Zoo is bringing back hippopotamuses.
The zoo has begun work on a $13.5 million, 3.5-acre Simmons Hippo Outpost, an immersive African waterhole habitat that includes a giant underwater viewing area for these surprisingly agile, super-sized "river horses," according to a news release.
When it opens in 2017, the zoo will be home for Nile hippopotamuses for the first time in 15 years.
A 24-foot by 8-foot underwater viewing window will bring visitors eye-to-nostril with hippos, allowing our zookeepers to teach about conservation efforts to help the world's third-largest land mammal. The hippos, one male and two females, will be seen from multiple vantage points, and nearby, an upper-level habitat will provide an enhanced home for the Zoo's world-renowned okapi herd, red river hogs, and saddle-billed storks.
Both habitats will be visible from an elevated monorail, the Wilds of Africa Adventure Safari.
"The Simmons Hippo Outpost is a perfect bookend to Giants of the Savanna," said GreggKiboko Lodge Hudson, the Zoo's president and chief executive officer. "It's been 15 years since we had hippos, and our guests have consistently asked us to bring them back. We're thrilled to be able to do so, after working on this project for several years."
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