37-year-old hippopotamus dies at Milwaukee County Zoo

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- 37-year-old Puddles, a female hippopotamus at the Milwaukee County Zoo, died Sunday, August 11th after a brief illness. Puddles was born at the Milwaukee County Zoo in 1976.

According to Zoo officials, Puddles had been having difficulty moving her rear legs for the past two weeks, and animal care staff was administering a variety of medications in the hope of improving her condition.

On Saturday, August 10th, as her condition worsened, Zoo personnel re-evaluated her needs.  At the time, her prognosis was believed to be quite poor.  She died on Sunday at 8:30 a.m.

A complete necropsy will be performed at the UW-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine.  Final results on the cause of death will take several months.

Puddles is survived by her mother, 43-year-old Patti.  Zookeepers will closely monitor Patti to make sure she’s adjusting to the loss, and will continue to pay attention to her needs.

The Zoo also is home to a male hippo, Happy, who arrived here in 2009 from the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.