SAN ANTONIO – You can take a visual dive into the hippopotamus exhibit at the San Antonio Zoo with a new Hippo Cam.
The video stream is part of a collection of 24-hour KSAT live streams that also include views of other zoo enclosures, the San Antonio International Airport, the Bexar County Courthouse, the city skyline and more.
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The San Antonio Zoo Hippo Cam provides a birds-eye view of the hippo pool, which stays between 78 and 84 degrees year-round, where resident pachyderms Timothy and his grandmother Uma spend their days.
Meet Timothy
San Antonio Zoo crew told KSAT that as of Sept. 2023 Timothy is 8-years-old and Uma is 49.
There’s also sometimes a surprise visit from Kevin — a mallard duck that decided he wanted to live in the hippo enclosure a number of years ago.
Depending on when you tune in, you might catch divers, who are also animal care specialists, gear up in wetsuits to clean the pool that holds around 100,000 gallons of water. The pool is approximately 8 feet deep at the deepest point and the water is constantly filtered through a life support system that filters the full 100,000 gallons several times a day.
Timothy and Uma get about 90 pounds of hay every day, and lots of food means lots of poop, so the pool is cleaned several times a week.
When hippos poop they spin their tail and poop splatters all over the place, it’s actually how they mark their territory in the wild.
Did you know hippos don’t swim? They walk along river beds, glide through the water and can hold their breath for up to 30 minutes.
Fun Fact: Timothy’s mom’s name is Karen and lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.