A proud mother hippo at Tianjin  Zoo recently bid farewell to the 12th of her offspring.

The young hippo that has now settled in Tangshan Zoo in  neighboring Hebei Province is one of the three grandchildren of " Qi'er", a highly productive mother hippo who has delivered 10  babies in Tianjin but only her third baby + another productive  she-hippo who has had three babies herself + is still with her.

Qi'er, now 27 years old, moved to Tianjin from Kobe, Japan in  1979, zoo keepers say.

She weighs three tons but still is still nimble, says An Zhiqi, a zoo-worker who has been taking care of Qi'er for 24 years. "She  has very rich facial expressions and enjoys communicating with  people."

Qi'er does not seem too sad at her offspring being sent away. " She must be happy that her own children have brought happiness to  people across the country," said An.

The little hippos have started new lives at zoos across the  country, including the nation's capital Beijing, the icy  northeastern city of Harbin and the southwestern municipality  Chongqing.

Meanwhile, many other zoos across China have lined up for more  baby hippos from Qi'er or her daughter, zoo keepers say.

 In exchange for the hippos, Tianjin Zoo has welcomed zebras  from Changchun in the northeastern Jilin Province, kangaroos from  Nanjing in the eastern Jiangsu Province, and golden monkeys from  Xi'an in the northwestern province of Shaanxi.

Tianjin Zoo is reputed as a breeding center for the African  aquatic animal as its staff have gained rich experience over the  years. Only one of the seven hippos born there over the past four  years has died, said Han Kejia of the zoo management.

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