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 the bloat next time you go to Hippo Cove!

Temperatures must be 40 degrees or warmer for Fritz the hippo to be outside.
The best time to see them active is between 3pm-5pm.

Meet the Hippos

Tucker

Tucker was born in 2003 at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. He weighs over 4,000 pounds!

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.

Fritz

Fritz was born on August 3, 2022. His mom is Bibi and his dad is Tucker.

Saving H2O

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

With 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 the bloat 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.