At the end of this month Dusit Zoo, better known as Khao Din, is shutting its gates after 80 years. Its 1,300 residents are moving to temporary accommodation in six provincial zoos until their new home opens in Pathum Thani in another three years. Moving can be quite a traumatic experience for animals, and we wish them all well.
Among the creatures leaving their long-time home is the doyen of the zoo, a lady hippopotamus called Mae Mali (Mother Jasmine). Mali, a resident since 1967, is the oldest hippo in Asia and last week celebrated her 52nd birthday with onlookers giving her a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday.
In honour of Mali, it seems an appropriate time to recall The Hippopotamus Song by Flanders and Swann, which was quite a hit in Britain when I was a kid back in the Stone Age.
