Oldest Hippo in US Dies

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Blackie the hippo died on Jan. 13, 2014. (Image credit: Cleveland Metroparks Zoo)

The oldest Nile hippopotamus in North America has died at age 59 at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.

Blackie the hippopotamus — who was brought to the zoo from Africa in 1955 and sired three males — had to be euthanized Monday (Jan. 13) due to illness related to his old age, zoo officials announced.

Zoo officials said in a statement that a special heated pool was built for the aging Blackie in 2008 and that he was comfortable until the end: "He lived out his last several years contentedly eating copious amounts of produce and floating lazily in a pool he didn't have to share."

Hippos are the third largest land mammals on Earth, after elephants and white rhinos. Their closest living relatives are dolphins and whales, and they are considered vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

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Megan Gannon
Megan Gannon
Live Science Contributor
Megan has been writing for Live Science and Space.com since 2012. Her interests range from archaeology to space exploration, and she has a bachelor's degree in English and art history from New York University. Megan spent two years as a reporter on the national desk at NewsCore. She has watched dinosaur auctions, witnessed rocket launches, licked ancient pottery sherds in Cyprus and flown in zero gravity. Follow her on Twitter and Google+.