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Two hippopotamuses at Sunway’s Lost World of Tambun tied the knot at the Ipoh amusement park on Wednesday, 21 April
In what is already touted as Malaysia’s wedding of the year, 21-year-old Juwita and 10-year-old Jiwang married in a Malay-themed ceremony, reported Bernama.
The simple yet memorable ceremony was witnessed by some 100 guests, complete with several wedding trays, kompang, and bunga manggar.
The guests who attended the ceremony complied with the standard operating procedures (SOPs) under the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO) and received bunga telur as door gifts.
They were also served with a spread of dishes, such as nasi minyak, ayam masak merah, deep fried prawns in spices, ikan percik, lamb curry, pickles, and dessert as the ceremony coincided with iftar that evening.
This is believed to be the first animal wedding in Malaysia, reported Malay Mail.
The relationship between the two hippos wasn’t always smooth sailing as Juwita took some time to get used to her new mate Jiwang, who joined the park earlier this year
It was a rather rocky start to the couple’s relationship when they met for the first time four months ago, according to Malay Mail.
Juwita was not at all impressed by her potential suitor but has since learnt to accept him as he is.
According to New Straits Times, there was a moment of tension at the beginning of the ceremony when the one-tonne weighing groom tried to make a run for it when his 1.4-tonne bride walked in from the opposite entrance.
However, he overcame his brief spell of cold feet and the ceremony continued with no other hiccups.
The park’s general manager Nurul Nuzairi disclosed that preparations for the wedding began last year when Jiwang joined the park after being procured from a park in Pahang.
“We have been trying to get our female hippopotamus Juwita a mate since she first came to us five years ago as we wanted to ensure the male mate was from a different gene pool,” he said at a press conference after the ceremony.
“It is to ensure the calf they get will be a healthy one.”
Bernama reported that Juwita migrated to Malaysia from Botswana, Africa in 2001. Alpha Jiwang joined his potential mate in January 2021.
Image via Audi Lander Low (Facebook)
Comments from netizens have been pouring in on the park’s social media posts since the union was announced earlier this week
Most netizens congratulated the happy couple.
There were the single pringles who were inspired by Juwita and Jiwang’s love story.
Then there were those who were impressed by the preparations for the wedding celebration.
Congratulations, Juwita and Jiwang! Make a lot of babies yea 😉
