Female pygmy hippo dies at Oklahoma City Zoo

 


OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Francesca, a female pygmy hippopotamus at Oklahoma City's zoo, has died at age 26.

The Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden announced the hippo's death Wednesday, and said caretakers examined Francesca last week after she showed signs of illness. Veterinarians diagnosed her with dental and severe gastrointestinal disease and progressive kidney failure.

Francesca was a new arrival at the zoo, arriving there from San Diego in December. Francesca was welcomed to the Oklahoma zoo by Gayla Peevey, whose song about wanting a hippo for Christmas inspired a fundraising drive that helped the facility purchase its first hippo in 1953.

The zoo said the median life expectancy for a pygmy hippo is just over 26 years, and reported that in her time there, Francesca was "confident and calm."

 

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