Augustus the Hippo Celebrates His First Birthday at Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Around this time a year ago, Disney shared the exciting news that Augustus, a Nile hippopotamus was born at Disney’s Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World. This was a very special occasion as Augustus was the first hippo to be born at the theme park in over a decade. Today we here at MickeyBlog are happy to share the news that Augustus has had an incredible first year and is officially celebrating his first birthday!
Check out this amazing look at Augustus:
How’s that for a birthday cake!? The popsicle cake you saw in the video was actually used as enrichment to get the animals curious about something new in their environment to check out and play differently than usual. Some other items used for enrichment could be oversized pool toys, ice, and different textures and tastes.
When Augustus was first born he weighed 80 pounds. On his one year anniversary, he comes in at an impressive 800 pounds. But what is even more impressive is that Augustus is slated to gain even more weight. When fully mature he’ll come in at an impressive 3,000 pounds!
Known for his adventurous spirit, one year in Augustus is thriving and is currently learning to make quiet wheeze honks which is the hippo’s way of vocalizing. He also takes after his mom as both sport pink birthmarks on their front feet. With the help of the keepers at Animal Kingdom Augustus is also learning many new behaviors including holding still putting his head down, laying down and other commands that help prepare Augustus for his regular health “check-ups.”
So can you catch a glimpse of Augustus during your next Animal Kingdom visit? – Yes! You can watch Augustus play and explore his habitat on the Kilimanjaro Safaris where he can often be seen splashing around with his mom Tuma.
To learn more about hippos, visit DisneyAnimals.com.
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