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After a year of joyfully welcoming her new baby brother Fritz, Fiona, the superstar hippo at the Cincinnati Zoo, celebrated her sixth birthday with a special cake.
The oft-viral Nile hippo, who has more than 17,000 followers on Instagram, enjoyed a birthday cake made with frozen fruit and whipped yogurt frosting.
She starts on the outside with some cake topping, before diving in and devouring the rest as onlookers sing ‘Happy Birthday’.
At six years old, Fiona is now in the age range, 4-7 years old, when female hippos are considered mature.
After a year of joyfully welcoming her new baby brother Fritz, Fiona, the superstar hippo at the Cincinnati Zoo, celebrated her sixth birthday with a special cake.
Mark Tewes, the Cincinnati Zoo keeper, said WMUR: ‘We’re seeing Fiona come of age as an adult hippo.’
However, the cake may help achieve one of Tewes and the Zoo’s goals for the hippo this year.
“She’s pretty much a normal hippo at this point, luckily we’re still looking for her to gain a little bit of weight, she’s still on the smaller end.”
Fiona is believed to be the smallest surviving Nile hippopotamus. She became a global celebrity after being born on January 24, 2017, weighing just 29 pounds.
That’s well below the average birth weight range of 55 to 120 pounds.
Speaking in 2020, Cincinnati Zoo Director Thayne Maynard said: “Fiona won the hearts of Cincinnatians when she struggled to survive after being born six weeks premature and terribly underweight.”
“Three years later, people all over the world are still crazy about this normal, healthy hippo.”
The oft-viral Nile hippo, who has more than 17,000 followers on Instagram, enjoyed a birthday cake made with frozen fruit and whipped yogurt frosting.
She starts on the outside with some cake topping, before diving in and devouring the rest as the onlookers sing “Happy Birthday”.
Fiona became a viral superstar when she was born in 2017
He said: ‘She has taught us a lot.’
His mother Bibi was hand-milked by a zoo staff member, and the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington helped develop a special formula. Nurses from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital were recruited to place a hippo IV.
He continued: “We were a nervous wreck every day.”
The zoo has released a book about Fiona to tell children about the story of survival against all odds.
It also includes a lot of facts about hippos, including the fact that they are herbivores, but they can be dangerous to humans, being fast and weighing up to 5,000 pounds.
Fiona, pictured, is world famous after she survived a six-week premature birth requiring groundbreaking levels of care involving nurses at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.
In 2021, Fiona was caught taking an underwater nap in her tank and snoring bubbles.
He added: ‘Part of the zoo’s mission is public education. (The book) is reaching children and families with a message of hope…never give up.’
In 2022, Fiona met her little brother for the first time.
Fritz was born at the Cincinnati, Ohio Zoo less than a month ago, with pictures released by zookeepers showing his bright pink skin as smooth as silk.
But older sister Fiona doesn’t seem jealous of the attention Fritz gets from their mother Bibi.
In fact, she seems excited when she greets the newest member of the family from inside her cage.
They were then filmed swimming together and playing outside.
The zoo’s director of animal care, Christina Gorsuch, said: “This first introduction went very well. [Mom] Bibi was appropriately protective of Fritz but not aggressive towards Fiona.
‘The exhibition was brief but a great first step.
[Fiona] he took cues from his mother… and backed off when Fritz was close enough to noseboop.’
We will continue to get Fiona, Fritz and Bibi together for short periods until we are sure all three are comfortable together.
‘The next step will then be to add [father] Tucker to the mix. We don’t have an exact timetable for when that will happen.’
Last year, Fiona was filmed napping underwater in her tank and snoring bubbles.
Hippos can close their nostrils and hold their breath for more than five minutes while submerged, even sleeping underwater.
Massive herbivores use a lifting reflex to breathe air without waking up.