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Sep 19, 2024 · Born six weeks premature on Jan. 24, 2017, Cincinnati Zoo's Fiona the hippo weighed only 29 pounds at birth — 25 pounds less than the lowest recorded birth weight for her species.
Zoo staff named the baby hippo Fiona because her ears resemble those of the Shrek character. [10] Fiona took her first steps on February 5, [ 6 ] [ 9 ] weighed 275 pounds (125 kg) by May 31, when she was introduced to the media, [ 11 ] and by June had reached a normal weight of 317 pounds (144 kg); [ 12 ] by the time she was six months old, she ...
- Overview
- What do we know about Fiona's species?
- Where did Fiona's parents come from?
- Aren't hippos dangerous?
- What will happen to Fiona as she ages?
The Cincinnati Zoo's star attraction comes from a species that's known for being deadly in the wild.
3:24
If you haven't yet heard of Fiona the Hippo, you might be the only one.
"Fionamania" as the New York Times recently branded it, has swept the nation. And it's easy to see why.
The ten-month-old hippo has 600 pounds of chubby cuteness wrapped in her leathery body. Scientifically, with her large head and big, round eyes, you'd be hard pressed to not find her adorable. But to top her looks, Fiona has developed a charismatic personality. Videos show her bounding across her enclosure and even photo-bombing a couple's engagement photo.
What's perhaps most endearing about Fiona is her success story. When she was first born six weeks premature last January at the Cincinnati Zoo, her keepers weren't sure she would make it. The zoo's veterinary and neonatal teams stayed with Fiona around the clock. She was even attached to oxygen tubes to ensure her underdeveloped lungs would make it.
Fiona belongs to the most abundant species of hippopotamus (the common hippo, Nile hippo, or large hippo.) The only other known species of hippos are the smaller pygmy hippos, which are endangered.
According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, there are likely 115,000 to 130,000 wild common hippos in the world. When last assessed, their populations were relatively stable, but conservationists are concerned that climate change and habitat loss may impact their numbers in the future.
Fiona's parents are two zoo hippos, named Henry and Bibi. Henry was shipped to Cincinnati from the Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield, Missouri. Bibi was shipped to Cincinnati from the St. Louis Zoo, but she was born in Disney's Animal Kingdom. It's there that Gorsuch says she was socialized, around a large number of brothers, sisters, and other juvenile hippos.
Bibi's keepers believe it was this early socialization that may have helped the mother hippo care for Fiona after the youngster was reintroduced to her, following three months of separation.
It was within only an hour of Fiona's birth that zookeepers removed her from Bibi's presence. Fiona was too small and weak to nurse on her own, so the team decided intervention was needed to save the baby. After about three months, zookeepers slowly acclimated the pair, and now they spend most of their time together.
Fiona eventually became acclimated to her father Henry, after more coaxing and close supervision. Video taken by the zoo shows how the old hippo let Fiona inspect his wide-open mouth, poking around her small head.
"For the record, I am terrified of hippos," said National Geographic explorer and Florida International University ecologist Elizabeth Anderson when asked about her own experiences working with hippos. Anderson was once conducting research in Tanzania when a hippo attacked an empty nearby boat.
"The hippo tried to flip the boat first, but it couldn’t because of the weight of the motor, so then it bit down on one of the air chambers, which exploded," she recounted. "Then the hippo grabbed the boat in its mouth and pulled it into the main river channel, beating it up as the boat and hippo moved together downstream."
Her account isn't unusual. Hippos are responsible for more deaths in Africa than any other mammal.
National Geographic explorer Steve Boyes nearly had his boat flipped by a hippo when traveling down the Okavango river. You can see video of this here.
Gorsuch has a simple explanation for why Fiona and Bibi may be so easy to handle. Hippos tend to show aggression when they need to defend their territory from other hippos or predators, but that's not so relevant in zoos.
"The interactions we have with them are supplying food, so they don't have a reason to be territorial," Gorsuch said.
It's hard to imagine now, but one day baby Fiona will grow up and may even make babies of her own. Gorsuch says this won't happen for another six or seven years, when Fiona reaches sexual maturity.
Zoo animals like Fiona are a part of a network called the Species Survival Program managed by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
- 3 min
- Sarah Gibbens
Oct 8, 2022 · In fact, the average baby hippo is born weighing around 100 pounds! Hippo calves will eventually grow to weigh 3,000 pounds or more as fully-grown adults. They primarily depend on their mother’s milk, which is rich in nutrients and fat, to help them gain weight.
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Baby hippos are born underwater and will weigh between 55 and 100-pounds and will be about 4-feet long. They must swim to the surface in order to take their first breath of air. A normal birth rate is a single calf, but twins are not uncommon.
People also ask
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When does a hippo give birth?
A hippo pregnancy lasts for about eight months – that’s even shorter than a normal human pregnancy. Female hippos mature and prepare to have babies at about five years old. When a baby hippo is born, it suckles for around eight months before it switches to mainly solid food. A Quick Note on Pygmy Hippo Babies
