<P> Peevey was a child star (born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma), before her family moved to Ponca City, Oklahoma, when she was five . When released nationally by Columbia Records the song shot to the top of the charts, and the city zoo acquired a baby hippo named Matilda . </P> <P> Peevey was filmed performing the song on The Ed Sullivan Show in October 1953, airing on November 15, 1953 . A video of this performance is available on her website . </P> <P> A popular legend holds that this 1953 hit had been recorded as a fundraiser to bring the city zoo a hippo; but in a 2007 radio interview with Detroit - based WNIC radio station, Peevey clarified that the song was not originally recorded as a fundraiser . Instead, a local promoter picked up on the popularity of the song and Peevey's local roots, and launched a campaign to present her with an actual hippopotamus on Christmas . </P> <P> The campaign succeeded, and she was presented with an actual hippopotamus, which she donated to the city zoo . The hippopotamus lived for nearly 50 years . Peevey, by this point 73 years old, was again present when the Oklahoma City Zoo acquired a rare pygmy hippopotamus in 2017 . </P>

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