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Cincinnati Zoo to celebrate Fiona reaching 1,000 pounds with a 1K walk

1,948 views · Published 5 November 2018 · 2:27 · Indexed 27 September 2026

Channel: LOCAL 12 · 2018 · News & Politics

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CINCINNATI, Ohio (WKRC) - The Cincinnati Zoo is hosting a 1K in December to celebrating a milestone for Fiona. She’s about to reach a thousand pounds.

The event sold out quickly.

"We knew a baby was coming but we didn't know she was going to make it," said Christina Gorsuch, curator of mammals at the zoo.

The baby hippopotamus was underweight and unlikely to survive. She was born premature, but now she’s known to the world as Fiona.

The year-and-a-half-old is maturing at a normal weight, almost hitting her 1000-pound mark. Gorsuch says it was an uphill battle.

“The first few hours we were in shock, like oh my god, it's alive. Let's see if we can keep her alive," said Gorsuch.

The team bottle-fed little Fiona. Videos of her circled the web and folks from around the world fell in love. This includes Chelsea Clinton, who came to see the little hippo that could.

"She was a tiny baby. She was so cute," said Annie Splett.

Annie Splett is one of Fiona's biggest fans. She works at the zoo. Every day after work, she goes to the Hippo Center, to catch a glimpse of Fiona and Bibi.

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