Chinese zoo makes special toothbrush for hippos
A Chinese zoo has built a special four foot-long toothbrush to clean the teeth of its hippopotamuses, after using a broom for years.
Published: 8:51AM GMT 04 Nov 2010
A keeper brushes a hippo's teeth at the Shanghai Zoo Photo: REUTERS
Shanghai Zoo now puts on a public show three times a week where visitors can watch zookeepers administer oral hygiene to its three hippos. “Usually wild hippos do not need to have their teeth cleaned,” said Pan Xiuwen, an official at the zoo, to the Shanghai Daily newspaper.
“They usually eat grass, which is not likely to get stuck in the gaps between their teeth. However, at the zoo we feed them fruit and vegetables which can easily clog up their teeth,” he explained. Hippos have enormous mouths, measuring up to four foot-wide, and a pair of large incisors in each jaw.
On the outer part of their jaw, they have curved lower canine teeth, which are a source of ivory and which can grow like tusks until they reach three feet in length. London Zoo has also swapped brooms for special long toothbrushes to clean the teeth of its pygmy hippos.
