Popular hippopotamus at Cheyenne Mtn. Zoo dies
A popular hippopotamus at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs had to be euthanized Thursday.
The zoo said veterinarians euthanized Wicket, a 45-year-old Nile hippo, Thursday. More than 50 million people got a chance to see Wicket in her lifetime.
There are only 37 Nile hippos in North America, according to the zoo. She has been at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo for more than two years.
The typical lifespan for a female hippo in a zoo is 37 to 50 years of age. Wicket came to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo from Brookfield Zoo in Illinois, another Association of Zoos and Aquariums-accredited facility, in early June 2012.
