A Hippo Named Bulette

[Drew]

There is a news story about a hippo in Germany that is too, er, randy for her own good. The zookeepers have put her on birth control for health reasons.

The hippo's name is Bulette, as in the D&D monster. So, is bulette a german word that I'm not familier with, or is somebody at the zoo a secret D&D geek?

 

[Crothian]

it sounds more french then german

 

[Darkness]

So, is bulette a german word that I'm not familier with, or is somebody at the zoo a secret D&D geek?

I believe it's something to eat. Either is possible, though.

 

[Turjan]

Bulette is German for meatball, from French 'boulette'. You can safely exclude any connection to D&D, because that hippo is older than D&D.

 

[Drew]

Bulette is German for meatball, from French 'boulette'. You can safely exclude any connection to D&D, because that hippo is older than D&D.

Really? I'm not familier with zoo practice, but are zoo animal necessarily born in captivity? Couldn't 55 year old Bulette have been aquired when she was 25 and named at that point? Or do mommy hippos name their baby hippos in the wild?

 

[Captain NeMo]

That's using your noodle.

(geddit?! meatballs and noodles? huhuhuh...)

 

[Turjan]

Really? I'm not familier with zoo practice, but are zoo animal necessarily born in captivity? Couldn't 55 year old Bulette have been aquired when she was 25 and named at that point? Or do mommy hippos name their baby hippos in the wild?

Well, Bulette's father was born in the Berlin Zoo, and she was conceived there. Bulette has been living in the Berlin Zoo since 1953.

 

[Drew]

Well, Bulette's father was born in the Berlin Zoo, and she was conceived there. Bulette has been living in the Berlin Zoo since 1953.

Where did you find this information?

 

[Turjan]

Where did you find this information?

On the Zoo website in her father's portait: Click! . Both, Knautschke and Bulette are pretty famous .

 

[Drew]

Well, my German is all but gone, but thanks for the link anyway. I'm dissapointed that the hippo isn't named for a D&D monster, but "meatball" is a pretty good name for a hippo.