CINCINNATI (AP) — There’s a new mouth to feed to at Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. A full-term hippopotamus was born Wednesday night. The baby is a sibling to Fiona, a hippo who became a global celebrity when she was born prematurely in 2017. The zoo’s animal care director says the baby looks huge because Fiona weighed only 29 pounds when she was born six weeks early. The zoo discovered the calf’s mother, 23-year-old Bibi, was pregnant around April Fool’s Day. It came as a surprise because Bibi was on birth control. Bibi and the yet to be named baby will spend the next two weeks bonding behind the scenes.
John Minchillo/AP file
Fiona, a baby Nile Hippopotamus, right, and her mother Bibi, swim in their enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2018, in Cincinnati. Fiona, born six weeks prematurely at 29 pounds, well below the common 50-100 pound range, and required nonstop critical care by zookeepers to ensure her survival has become a international celebrity. She will reach her first birthday on Jan. 24. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Posted at 7:45 AM, Aug 04, 2022
and last updated 2022-08-04 15:19:07-04
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