The San Diego Humane Society’s Ramona Wildlife Center is feeling festive, and it has nothing to do with Thanksgiving, but instead a birthday celebration for a hippo that turns 52.
Hannah Shirley, the world’s oldest known living pygmy hippopotamus, turned 52 years old on Thursday, and celebrated with a Hungry Hungry Hippos–themed party. Hannah was surrounded by guests as she played with different-colored balls and presents.
“Every day with Hannah Shirley is a gift,” said Autumn Welch, Wildlife Operations Manager at San Diego Humane Society. “Her playful spirit and resilience continue to amaze us. Seeing her celebrate 52 years with such energy and curiosity is nothing short of extraordinary.”
The world’s oldest living pygmy hippo, Hannah Shirley, celebrates her 52nd birthday. Photograph: San Diego Humane Society
Hannah, born in November 1973, surpassed the previous longevity record earlier this year. These hippos typically live 25 to 30 years in the wild.
The team in San Diego took her in after she was rescued from a private backyard in Escondido in 2002. Since then, she has lived in a 13,000-sq-ft habitat with a pond and pool. Her routine includes spa-like back rubs, sprinkler showers and prepared meals that support her advanced age.
“Anyone who meets Hannah falls in love with her,” said Angela Hernandez-Cusick, wildlife rehabilitation supervisor at San Diego Humane Society. “She embodies the joy and connection that make caring for wildlife so rewarding.”
The world’s oldest living pygmy hippo, Hannah Shirley, celebrates her 52nd birthday. Photograph: San Diego Humane Society
Pygmy hippos are smaller cousins of the hippopotamus that are native to west Africa. They are much less aquatic than river hippos, and their heads are rounder and narrower, their necks are proportionally longer, and their eyes are not on top of their heads. A pygmy hippo’s teeth only have one pair of incisors, while hippos have two or three.
Of the 2,000 estimated pygmy hippos remaining in the wild, most are thought to be in Liberia, with smaller numbers in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Cote d’Ivoire. As a shy, nocturnal herbivore, pygmy hippos eluded western science until 1840, according to the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance.