Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden®

Home of the world famous hippo Fiona. Family friendly Zoo committed to inspiring visitors with wildlife and saving species.

Hippo Cove

Hippo Cove, home of the World’s most famous hippo, Fiona, was designed to bring visitors #CloseEnoughToCare! There is an underwater viewing area and an interactive play area for children young and old to learn and explore more about these giant and amazing animals.

Visit baby hippo Fiona and her mom Bibi next time you go to Hippo Cove!

  • Temperatures must be 45 degrees or warmer for Fiona the hippo to be outside.
  • The best time to see her active is between 3pm-5pm.

Meet the Hippos

Bibi

Bibi was born in 1999 and is from the St. Louis Zoo. She weighs over 3,000 pounds!

Fiona

Fiona was born on January 24, 2017! She was 6-weeks premature. Follow her story here.

Saving H2O

A single hippo can generate about 22 pounds of waste per day. The Cincinnati Zoo has two.

hippo-infographic-webWith that much waste in a 70,000-gallon pool, it’s a challenge to keep the water clean enough for visitors to actually see the hippos. Thanks to a complex filtration system, and an enthusiastic school of poop-eating tilapia, visitors can see Bibi and Fiona through crystal clear water.

The zoo has saved 1 billion gallons of water since 2005 and 100% of the water put into the habitat comes from rainwater. A 400,000-gallon underground detention tank below Painted Dog Valley collects rainwater that’s filtered and used to feed the streams, waterfalls, and pools in Africa and other habitats.

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