Fiona the Hippo Now Too Large to Greet Zoo Staff Through Enclosure Window

Cincinnati Zoo hippo Fiona, whose against-all-odds survival endeared her to millions when she was born prematurely in 2017, is all grown up, video released by the zoo on May 7 shows.

Fiona’s keepers posted a video to X on Tuesday showing that her head no longer fits through a window in her enclosure.

“Sweet Fiona is too big now to fit her head all the way into the window to check in on her care team! We’re so proud of how much she’s grown!” the zoo wrote on X.

As of April 12, Fiona weighed 2,484 pounds, the zoo told Storyful.

Fiona was born six weeks before she was due and was too small to stand on her own to nurse from her mother, according to the zoo.

The tiny 29-pound hippo was hand-raised by zoo staff and their videos of her made Fiona world-famous.

Fiona is now seven years old and has reached maturity, which for hippos happens between ages five to seven, Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden keeper Jenna Wingate told local media. Credit: Cincinnati Zoo via Storyful