San Diego Zoo welcomes Lupe the hippo from Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — The San Diego Zoo has a new hippopotamus — Lupe — that you can find at Hippo Trail.

After Lupe’s companion at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, Washington, recently died, the zoo said they took her in part of a collaborative effort through the AZA Species Survival Plan to support her well-being and the species’ long-term conservation.

Lupe is now with other hippos — Funani and her calf Amahle — at the zoo.  Amahle was born February 8, 2020.

The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance welcomed Lupe, short for Guadalupe, the 24-year-old female river hippo, in late September 2024. The zoo says she is settling into the dynamic habitat along Hippo Trail.

Hippos are land mammals mainly found in slow-moving rivers and lakes in Africa. According to the zoo, with their eyes, ears, and nostrils on the top of the head, hippos can hear, see, and breathe while most of their body is underwater. They are also among the most dangerous and aggressive of all mammals. Learn more about hippos here .

The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists river hippos as Vulnerable with populations declining. The wildlife alliance says hippos face several major threats to their survival, including habitat loss, poaching, and human-wildlife conflict. They are also targeted for bushmeat and their ivory-like teeth, while their habitats are being reduced by agriculture and urban development.

You can find the hippos along the zoo’s Hippo Trail.

The San Diego Zoo is located at 2920 Zoo Dr in San Diego’s Balboa Park.

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