Puddles was the San Diego Zoo’s first hippopotamus; born on July 8, 1935 at the Brookfield Zoo outside of Chicago. He arrived here in August 1936, becoming the first hippo to be exhibited by a zoo on the West Coast. He became quite the viewing sensation.

Rube and Ruby were popular from the moment they arrived in 1940 as youngsters from the Calcutta Zoo in India. The pair produced 11 offspring during their time together, with their first calf born in 1943. Hippos have an average life span of 25 to 30 years in the wild, but Rube’s 51 years made him one of the oldest hippos in zoos. Although Ruby died in 1982 and Rube in 1988, they have been immortalized as two of the Zoo’s popular costumed characters! During their time here, hippos became one of the Zoo’s most popular attractions, seen by millions of visitors.

By 1986, the Zoo's 50-year-old hippo habitat was showing its age, and a decision was made to close it until it could be replaced with an up-to-date facility. That facility became a reality when a new hippo habitat opened at the Zoo in 1995. It continues to offer millions of people a safe way to get an up-close-and-personal view of hippos. Zoo visitors can observe hippo behavior on the beach and underwater all year long, as their habitat features 110 feet (33.5 meters) of underwater viewing behind a 2.25-inch-thick (5.7 centimeters) glass window, engineered to withstand the force of a 2-ton (1.8 tonnes) hippo moving at 15 miles per hour (24 kilometers per hour). Thanks to the temperate San Diego weather, the water in the pool does not need to be heated or chilled.

The pool is serviced by a large water filtration system and is also kept clean by a school of tilapia, one of the several species of African fish that, in the wild, would normally be feeding on the hippos’ dead skin and food remnants.

We currently have a pair of these impressive giants. Funani, whose name means “desire” in Zulu, weighs about 3,600 pounds (1,630 kilograms). She came to San Diego from the Knoxville Zoo in 1995, where she was known as a problem hippo. But she settled in quickly and has mellowed even further with motherhood. Since her arrival, she has had eight calves.

Our adult male, Otis, is a “lightweight” for an animal that can reach a weight of 4 tons (3.6 tonnes); he tips the scale at 3,900 pounds (1,770 kilograms). He was wild born in East Africa in 1976 and brought to the San Diego Zoo from the Los Angeles Zoo in January 2009, specifically to breed with Funani. The happy result was Adhama, born on January 26, 2011. The “little” guy delighted Zoo guests with his playful antics at the viewing window and has been a YouTube sensation, showing off some ballet moves. Adhama moved to the Los Angeles Zoo in June 2013.

On March 23, 2015, Funani gave birth to a daughter, Devi. Zoo guests watched her grow from a charismatic calf who enjoyed exploring the 150,000-gallon (567,812-liter) pool, to a young hippo. She moved to another facility in March 2017.

Funani gave birth to a son, Tony, on September 22, 2017. Keepers called this gregarious and adventurous young hippo calf "fearless," as he quickly began looking for ways to get away from his watchful mom and go exploring throughout their Lost Forest habitat. In July 2019, Tony moved to another AZA-accredited facility. We wish him well!

On February 8, 2020, Funani gave birth to a daughter—her 13th calf, and her 9th born at the San Diego Zoo. The active, adventurous youngster, named Amahle (pronounced ah-MA-shleh), is already making quite a splash in the pool with mom. Funani and her new calf can currently be seen in their outside habitat on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and weekends, while the calf's father, Otis, is viewable in the habitat on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.