Zoo Ostrava The Annual Report 2009

Keeping the common hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius)
at Ostrava Zoo
Jan Pluháček
Dedicated to the memory of the longest-living dweller of Ostrava Zoo,
Roza the hippo female
On 7 October 2009 in the morning, the common hippo female Roza died at Ostrava Zoo after having suffered
a difficult but very short disease. This animal was the longest-living inhabitant ever held in Ostrava. What's
more, this female was a founder of zoo's common hippo stock. Not only the facts mentioned above, but also
other events that concerned the Ostrava hippo stock in 2009 lead me to make a summary of the breeding
history of this Ostrava Zoo flagship species from the very beginning, which dates back to 16 November 1967,
when it was this very hippo, female Roza, who arrived at the then elephant house from the zoo in Dvur Kralove.
Roza was six, as she was born to a female Tanga and Tanga's son Lutz II in Munich on 20 June 1961. Tanga had
come from Leipzig and later became the longest-living hippo in the world - she died in Munich on 12 July 1995
when she was 61 years old. Lutz II was fathered by Lutz I of Berlin origin. In 1966, Roza left Munich for Dvur
Kralove Zoo together with her siblings, a female Dora and a male Heini, to subsequently continue to Ostrava
on her own a year later.
The first male to follow Roza, named Honza, arrived at Ostrava on 13 July 1968. This hippo was born to
a female Aenne II and a male Toni at Cologne Zoo on 20 July 1967. The fact that Toni's parents were caught in
the wild and Aenne II was imported from the wild as well places Honza amongst a few European hippos with
fully known pedigree.
An important milestone for the hippo stock at Ostrava Zoo arrived on 30 January 1972 for it was the date
of birth for a first calf of Honza and Roza. This animal turned out to be a female and was named Dita. Reared
with success, Dita was the very first common hippo born in the then Czechoslovakia, by which Ostrava Zoo got
several months ahead of Prague and Dvur Kralove parks, with Prague having held hippos as early as in 1933
and Dvur Kralove having been a hippo holder since 1966. In Dvur Kralove, they bred their first hippo in August
1972, while Prague was not successful in this before May 1974. On 24 May 1975, Dita was sold to Dutch animal
dealer Van den Brink and her fate is unfortunately unknown.
In 1975, hippos were moved to a new annex to the house that has remained in service until today, in fact in
unchanged form. Here the animals have available a relatively large pool (108 m 2 ) that can be divided when
necessary. The dry area (51 m 2 ) can be split in two as well, with both sections providing access to the pool by
means of stairs. There is an outdoor enclosure of 387 m 2 adjoining the house, to which the animals can access
from the indoor pool, as there is no pool outdoors.
From the many more calves produced by the hippo pair, a female Katka born on 31 August 1977 is worth
to mention, as it was the only young hippo that ever stayed in Ostrava until full maturity. Katka was and still
is mated by her father Honza. Her first calf was born on 22 October 1982, meaning that she was then 5; the
young one was a female Alenka, who was subsequently sold to an animal dealer as well, this time Muller
Company, thus being another animal without any additional details of life history.
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