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Happy The Hippo Moves From D.C. To Milwaukee

September 29, 2009
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Happy, a 28-year-old Nile hippopotamus, will be leaving his long-time home at the National Zoo for new digs at the Milwaukee County Zoo in Wisconsin.
Smithsonian Institution
Happy, a 28-year-old Nile hippopotamus, will be leaving his long-time home at the National Zoo for new digs at the Milwaukee County Zoo in Wisconsin.

The National Zoo's Nile hippopotamus is now in his new home in Milwaukee.

Happy the hippo was transported to Wisconsin in a custom-made crate placed on the back of a flatbed truck by a construction crane. Zoo staff had trained Happy to enter the crate and calmly remain inside it, and report that he did not have to be sedated for the trip.

Happy was born at the National Zoo in early January, 1981. He was named after the seasonal greeting, "Happy New Year." He shared space with the zoo's Asian elephants, but with construction begun on the new Elephant Trails exhibit, the zoo decided to move Happy to a larger space elsewhere.

Following a quarantine period, he'll make his public debut at the Milwaukee County Zoo, where Happy will be grouped with two female hippos, Patti and Puddles.

Matt McCleskey reports...

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