Hip-hippo hooray: It's a boy!
The Cincinnati Zoo revealed on Aug. 8 that Fiona the Hippo's newest sibling—born last week—is a boy calf. According to the marketing manager of the Cincinnati Zoo, Amy LaBarbara, it took a few days after birth for staff members to figure out the sex, as they wanted to give mom, Bibi, the space and quality time needed with her newest arrival.
"Bibi was doing such a great job being a great mom," Amy said on the Today show. "So, they really didn't want to interfere with that, they really wanted to let them bond."
As for how the baby calf is doing after his first few days? "He's amazing," Amy shared. "He's so strong. Just staying right with his mom and doing everything we want a baby hippo to do. He's swimming and just doing great."
And if you're wondering about his name, staff members haven't picked one out just yet, since the zoo is encouraging the public to send in suggestions for consideration. So, yes, your name could be the one they absolutely can't live without.
But what about his bonding time with his famous 5-year-old sister, Fiona? Turns out, it might be a little while until the siblings are introduced to one another.
"He has not met her yet, he's seen her from a distance," Amy shared, adding that introducing the two siblings is considered "kind of a slow process."
In case you haven't always been where the wild things are: Fiona the Hippo became quite famous in 2017 when she became the first Nile hippo to join the Cincinnati Zoo in 75 years. Although Fiona was born premature at 29 pounds (the lowest recorded birth weight on record for the breed), she quickly thrived in her environment and captured millions of hearts everywhere.
Their adorable legacy lives on.
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