A zoo in Osaka has posted a message on its Website and has sent e-mail notes to other zoos around the world asking them for help in finding a bride for a male hippopotamus named Tetsuo.

Zookeepers at Tennoji Zoo in central Osaka had arranged a mate for Tetsuo three times, but each time the attempt fell through. The first try was in March 1998, when the zoo located a 17-month-old female in Puebla, Mexico. The hippo broke her leg, however, and the planned union had to be canceled. Another hippo was then offered, but zoo keepers later discovered it was actually a male.

Diligent efforts by Tennoji Zoo turned up a prospective mate in an eight-month-old at a Canadian zoo. Unfortunately, the "bride-to-be" died in an accident before she could be delivered to Tennoji Zoo.

Tetsuo was born to Natsuko and Futoshi, his mother and father, 15 years ago. Futoshi died shortly after Tetsuo's birth, however, and so he was raised by his mother, with whom Tetsuo shared the same cage and pool until last summer. Tetsuo moved out because he's now a fully-grown adult, equivalent in human years to a 30 year old, and ready for marriage.

Zoo attendants are looking for a mate outside Japan because most of the approximately 60 hippos here, including Tetsuo, are descendants of Jukichi and Fukuko--hippos that were kept at Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Gardens in Nagoya--and are therefore related to one another.

A new hippopotamus habitat was completed at Tennoji Zoo in 1997 at a cost of 1.35 billion yen (about 11 million U.S. dollars). It's designed so that visitors can see what the hippos are doing underwater and provides separate living quarters for Tetsuo and Natsuko.

Zookeepers claim they hope to find a bride for Tetsuo soon to please visiting children, many of whom say they feel sorry for Tetsuo since he seems so lonely. Unfortunately, the zoo has already used up its budget for a hippo purchase for this year. So it's hoping that somebody will be good enough to donate a female, and it is asking for leads through its Website and via e-mail.

Know any young hippos looking for a groom?

Photo: Tetsuo hopes he won't have to wait too long for his wedding. (Tennoji Zoo)