Female hippo dies at Nandankanan

Bhubaneswar: A female hippopotamus aged around 15 years was found dead in the Nandankanan Zoo in the city early morning today.

The hippo was floating in a pool at around 5 am. Since several external injuries were found on its body, it is suspected that it fought with its male partners leading to its death. Sources said post-mortem will be conducted in the afternoon.

With this, the number of hippopotamus in the Nandankanan zoo has reduced to 17-seven males, eight females and two calves.

The park authority plans to segregate male hippopotamus from the females to avoid such incidents and check breeding at least for two years to control the population of hippos. Meanwhile, the pool water will be cleaned, sources added.