where is Hazina the hippo’s new home?
Date: August 11, 2005
Baby hippo has now spent 10 months in cramped barn, says Humane Society
Hazina, the baby hippo acquired by the Greater Vancouver Zoo in October 2004, is still being kept in sub-standard conditions despite promises that she would have a purpose-built home by now, says the Vancouver Humane Society (VHS).
The zoo’s lone hippo has been confined in a small barn for 10 months – half her life – with no sign of a long-promised new hippo facility being built. The VHS is worried that Hazina’s mental and physical health could suffer from the confinement and the lack of contact with other hippos.
“Hippos are social animals,” said VHS spokesperson Peter Fricker. “They need other hippos and they need space and adequate exercise.” Fricker said the zoo had failed to keep its promises to give Hazina a state-of-the-art home. “They said the new hippo barn and pool would be ready in June of this year. Before that, they said it would be ready in early spring and before that it was October of 2004.”
VHS and Zoocheck Canada criticized the zoo for acquiring Hazina in 2004 without having first built appropriate accommodation for her. Four hippos have died prematurely at the zoo since 1983.
