Gallery: Baby hippo starts teething
- Published
Fiona's first tooth has come through, which means that feeding can be a little bit more uncomfortable for her now.
As you can see, Fiona is much smaller than her mother called Bibi! She was born in the middle of the night on Tuesday 24 Jan, six weeks earlier than expected and 25lbs lighter than she should have been.
Fiona was Bibi's first baby. When she was born, she appeared to be struggling - especially given that she was born so early. So staff at the zoo had to make the decision to step in to help her out to make sure that she would survive.
Now, the zookeepers and vets at Cincinnati Zoo are bringing up Fiona themselves, to give her the best possible chance in life. This means feeding her with a bottle, as you can see in this picture.
Experts explained how they had to study hippo milk to make sure that they gave Fiona what she needed. "Fortunately for us, various rescues and sanctuaries in Africa were able to provide us with critically helpful information based on their own experiences with caring for orphaned baby hippos," they said.
Even though Bibi is not looking after her own baby, she has been reunited with Fiona's dad - a hippo called Henry. Who knows if they might give Fiona a brother or sister in future?! Fiona is being looked after near to them, so they can hear and smell each other.
She was called Fiona because it means 'fair'. “[Her carers] think this name suits her personality,” the zoo said.
- Published6 February 2017
- Published10 February 2017
