Tears for Happy

Regarding the Aug. 3 Metro article "Zoo's Hippo Must Hit the Road":

I was shocked by the callousness of National Zoo Senior Curator Brandie Smith. To make room for some random elephants, Ms. Smith wants to remove Happy the hippopotamus from the only home he has ever known, as well as separate him from his excellent caretaker, John Taylor. I doubt whether Happy will ever be happy again, or whether he will even survive being put in a crate, lifted by a crane and transported to an unfamiliar environment.

Destroying Happy's home is not the solution to the threat of elephant extinction.

ANITA GOLDHAR

Silver Spring

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I share zookeeper John Taylor's tears. First the giraffes, now the hippo. Indeed, how can we call this the "National" Zoo when it treats classic zoo animals as disposable? There is something seriously wrong with the decision-making at the zoo if it leads to resources being dumped into a few grand animals (such as pandas and elephants) but allows others to languish.

KAREN BYRNE

Kensington