This is the adorable first meeting between a big sister hippo and her little brother, who is only a few days old.
A video shot by zookeepers shows Fritz’s beautiful pink skin that is as smooth as silk. Fritz was born at Cincinnati Zoo in Ohio less than a month ago.
Fiona, the elder sister, doesn’t seem envious of Fritz’s attention from their mother Bibi, either.
In fact, when she welcomes the newest member of the family from within her cage, she exudes joy.
Then they were seen on camera playing outdoors and swimming together.
“This initial introduction went really well,” said Christina Gorsuch, head of animal care at the zoo. While correctly guarding Fritz, [Mom] Bibi avoided becoming combative with Fiona.
Although short, the exposure was a terrific starting step.
Fritz nearly went close enough for a nose boop, but [Fiona] followed her signals from her mom and backed off.
Until we are certain that Fiona, Fritz, and Bibi are at ease with one another, we will continue to place the three of them together for brief intervals.
The next stage will be to include [father] Tucker in the mix. There is no set timeframe for when that will occur.
Three weeks after his August 2 birth, on August 23, Stocky Fritz already weighed an astounding 138 lbs.
In contrast, Fiona, age 5, had the lowest weight ever measured for her species at barely 25 lbs.
Fiona, who was born in the zoo in January 2017 six weeks early and was named after the Shrek heroine due of her tiny ears.
In her tank, Fiona was seen dozing off last year while blowing bubbles.
Hippos are capable of breathing underwater for more than five minutes while keeping their noses closed and even sleeping under water.
The large herbivores have a reflex that causes them to stand up and take a breath without waking up.
‘Fiona earned the hearts of Cincinnatians when she struggled to live after being born six weeks early and very underweight,’ Cincinnati Zoo director Thayne Maynard said in a statement last year.
“Three years later, the world is still enthralled by this healthy, regular hippo.”
She has taught us a lot, he continued.
Bibi’s mother was hand-milked by a zoo employee, and the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington contributed to the creation of a unique formula.
A hippo IV was even inserted by Cincinnati Children’s Hospital nurses as part of the extraordinary attempt to preserve newborn Fiona.