The answer lies right behind me. Hippos' are considered the most dangerous animals in Africa. Matter of fact they kill more people than lions and crocodiles combined! Large males can weigh anywhere from 3,500 - 9,920 pounds! Even though they are unpredictable and dangerous Hippos are one of my favorite animals!
These two gorgeous hippos are enjoying the afternoon sun in their Oregon Zoo exhibit. In the wild hippos will leave their water source and walk sometimes several miles in search of food. They are primarily vegetarians eating various grasses. Even though they are built for water hippos cannot even swim! They move around by pushing off with their toes from the river floor like ballet dancers.
Check out that smile! This is a Dwarf Caiman from the zoo's Amazon Flooded Forest Exhibit. These small members of the crocodilian family only reach lengths of 4-6 feet. What a beauty! They are known to be feisty little animals that have big tempers (kind of like my sister)!
I love this picture that I took of "Sam" the zoo's newest member born into their Asian Elephant herd. You can tell the difference between Asian and African Elephants by the shape/size of their ears. Asian's have small ears while African's have large "Africa" shaped ears.
The Oregon Zoo is involved in many conservation projects including rearing baby Western Pond Turtles until they are big enough to be released in the wild. Western Pond Turtles are considered endangered in Washington and threatened in Oregon. The main threat to these turtles are introduced species like Bull Frogs who prey on the small baby turtles.