“In the wild, hippos spend most of the day in warm water,” says Tom Silva, assistant director for the zoo. “In the winter, temperatures can drop down pretty low here. It's not uncommon to go from daytime highs in the 80s to less than 20 degrees at night, so we had to prepare a heated pool for Karen.”
Fortunately, there was a spot. What was originally planned to become a duck pond could be redesigned as a wading pool for Karen. The pond holds approximately 120,000 gallons of water. It's 7 ft. in its deepest spot and features gentle slopes for two-ton Karen to walk over when passing between the pool and her barn.