My Tribute to Montgomery

I was sad to learn that Montgomery the Hippo died last week. Here is some video I took of him over the past few years.



Montgomery was born at the Memphis Zoo in 1972 but had been at Riverbanks since 1974. Most of the time when I saw him he was under the water. So it was always a nice surprise when he was out of the water.

Looking at this video you would never know hippos are the most dangerous animals in Africa. They've killed more humans than any other animal in Africa. They have been known to drown lions or bite crocodiles in half. Its skin in mostly bullet proof. But Montgomery wasn't born in the wild and was taken good care of.

Check out Montgomery's teeth. Did you know George Washington's false teeth were made from hippo ivory? (And walrus ivory).

Hippos were once thought to be related to pigs. But they are more closely related to whales.

It won't be the same without Monty. I hope Riverbanks will get some new hippos soon.