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Fiona Has A Happy Reunion With Parents

Cincinnati Zoo
Fiona goes into the pool for the first time with both her parents.

The Cincinnati Zoo is thrilled that baby hippo Fiona, her mom Bibi and her dad Henry all got in the pool together for the first time Tuesday morning and bonded.  And the zoo quickly posted the family picture on social media.

“The introduction lasted about an hour, and we couldn’t be more pleased with how it went,” said Christina Gorsuch, curator of mammals at the Cincinnati Zoo. “Fiona has been exploring the outdoor habitat with her mom for several weeks and has had contact with Henry inside, but today was the first time that the three hippos have been together. "

Gorsuch reports mom Bibi kept her eye on Henry and gave him cues of "how to interact appropriately with the little one."

When can you see them?

The zoo says there is still no set schedule for when Fiona will be outside, with her mom or with both parents. When she is out, she has access to go inside, so visitors may or may not see her.

“It has taken almost six months to reach this major milestone, and it feels great,” said Gorsuch. “There’s no manual on how to hand raise and reintroduce a premature hippo, but our animal care staff got Fiona through health hurdles and overcame curveballs to get us where we are now. I’m proud of our team.”  

Fiona has grown A LOT

Fiona weighed 29 pounds when she was born, on January 24, which is about 25 pounds lighter than the lowest recorded birth weight for this species.  The normal range is 55-120 pounds.  Today she weighs almost 375 pounds.  Her parents weigh about ten times that. You can keep up with all the developments on the Cincinnati Zoo blog.

Ann Thompson has decades of journalism experience in the Greater Cincinnati market and brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to her reporting.