Henry the hippo, chomps two whole watermelons on his birthday Aug. 29 at the Dickerson Park Zoo. This was Henry’s 34th birthday, and the watermelons were part of his present that day.

By Essence Coleman 

A popular hippopotamus will be leaving his home to have a better facility and live with female hippos in Cincinnati next year, according to a volunteer at Dickerson Park Zoo.

Volunteer Haylee Hughes said at Dickerson Park Zoo’s Henry the hippo will be leaving in the spring of next year. The Executive board decided to move him to the Cincinnati Zoo in Ohio to have a better lifestyle and live a longer, happier life.

“Henry lives alone in the Dickerson park zoo,” Hughes said. “We wanted to give him a bigger place to live with other female Hippos which will soon be his girlfriends.”

The facility that Henry lives in is just not working out. The Zoo wants to give him more room and to breed with the other female hippos, Hughes said.

According to the Cincinnati Zoo website, they are constructing a new hippopotamus exhibit costing $7.3 million as part of a $34 million redesign of their facility. The hippo exhibit will have an underwater viewing area and an interactive play area for children.  The Cincinnati Zoo hasn’t had hippos since 1997. The Cincinnati zoo will have one boy hippo and one girl hippo to breed. If the breeding goes well baby hippos could be in the Zoo’s future.

The Dickerson Park Zoo cannot make the facility bigger for Henry or add additional hippos.  It would cost too much money that the Springfield zoo doesn’t have, Hughes said.

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