He's lived the past 25 years of his life solo, pacing back and forth underwater at the bottom of his 30,000-gallon tank, quietly munching the hay and grass his keepers feed him and enjoying the company of his lone toy — a 3-foot log.
But Moe the hippopotamus is soon headed for nicer digs — a lawn, a bigger pool and the company of two lady friends.
Hogle Zoo is sending Moe to the Rio Grande Zoo in Albuquerque, N.M., to an exhibit built especially for his species. There, he'll enjoy a 350,000-gallon pool, a grassy lawn and plenty of room to lumber around. He will make the trip south by truck in two to four weeks, or as soon as he is comfortable in the crate to which zookeepers have been slowly acclimating him.
Moe, 31, was born in Canada but has lived at the Hogle Zoo for the past 30 years. He fathered a calf in the mid-1970s, but it's been nearly three decades since he has had other hippos for company. There are two female hippos waiting for his arrival at the Albuquerque zoo, and keepers hope Moe will form a small harem with them and breed.
Friday morning, Moe seemed rather unaware of his pending trip, instead delighting visitors with trips up and down the shallow steps that lead into his green-water pool. About a half-dozen children clung to the rail separating them from Moe, pointed at the leviathan (although he has slimmed down from a diet the past few years), and shrieked when he swam past them in the pool.
For the keepers who look after Moe, his departure is a sad event. Julee Barrett has been taking care of Moe since she began working at Hogle Zoo six years ago, and she and a veterinarian will accompany him to his new home. Moe and the keepers bonded because they provided his only activity for so long.
"I'm attached," Barrett said. "I don't know why. I mean, look at him."
Moe continued to stand in profile, resting his gargantuan head on the ground and flickering one ear.
"I think every move he makes, he has to think about," Barrett said, smiling at her ward.
The hippo house, which also is hosting a pair of breeding penguins at the moment, will eventually be torn down to make room for other zoo projects.
"This is the part I'm going to miss — the chance to get up close and see him," said Stacey Phillips, a zoo spokeswoman.
E-mail: kswinyard@desnews.com