Giza Zoo welcomes newborn hippo, kudu, Arabian oryx

CAIRO - 21 October 2019: Giza Zoo welcomed a number of newborn animals including hippopotamus, kudu, and Arabian oryx.

According to Maha Sabry, the director of Giza Zoo, the newborn hippo is 13 days old, and is always kept with its mother inside an isolated lake, for the sake of its protection. “[The newborn hippo] is rarely removed from the water at the present time, and the delivery process was underwater in addition to breastfeeding, and soon will be available to the public as well as the Kudu and the Arabian Oryx,” she said.


Newborn Kudu at Giza Zoo - Egypt Today

The hippopotamus is a huge African Herbivore and is commonly known in Egypt as “Sayed Qeshta.”

The hippo is a semi-aquatic animal that inhabits lakes and rivers in Africa and lives in groups. It stays most of the day in the water or mud until it cools. Herding is an activity performed by each animal alone, i.e., that they do not gather as they do in the water near each others.

Native to the deserts of Arabian Peninsula, the Arabian Oryx is considered endangered due to uncontrolled hunting and capture. It went extinct in the wild in 1972, but rescue operations took over, and transferred to zoos for captive breeding.

Giza Zoo has recently received two Red Kangaroos coming from Slovakia. The garden has never hosted Kangaroos since its establishment in 1891. However, the zoo is now rendered without elephants after the death of Naema the Elephant due to a blood clot in its heart, according to Director of Giza Zoo Maha Saber.

A periodic vaccination campaign takes part of Egypt's Ministry of Agriculture, General Authority for Veterinary Services to protect animals from common diseases such as Ovine rinderpest, which is contagious and common among goats and sheep.

Giza Zoo Head, Mohamed Raga’ei, said that these kinds of campaigns usually take place during the Zoo weekly off day, with the participation of workers and veterinarians.

Giza Zoo is Egypt's most famous and historic zoo; it is also considered the biggest animal park in the Middle East, and it was opened for the public in 1891 during the rule of Khedive Tawfiq. Many kinds of rare and endangered animals and birds live in the park.