Fiona The Hippo Celebrates First Birthday

CINCINNATI, OH — Internet darling Fiona the hippo turns one on Wednesday. Her birthday celebration is being broadcast Facebook Watch, kicking-off Season 2 of the Fiona Show on the platform.

After being born in 2017, six weeks premature and weighing an unhealthy 29 pounds, the hippo is now 669 pounds and a year old. Plus, Fiona will be getting a special treat on Jan. 24 for her birthday.

“The Zoo’s nutritionist and commissary staff have prepared a one-of-a-kind cake for the birthday girl, and it will be fun to let everyone see her reaction to that,” said Christina Gorsuch, Cincinnati Zoo’s curator of mammals. “The world has been watching her ups and downs this past year, so we think people will want to see her enjoying her big day.”

Over the past year, interested fans of Fiona have watched her various milestones. In June, Cincy zoo caregivers were relieved seeing baby hippopotamus Fiona practically crawl inside her mother Bibi's wide open mouth eased months of concern that Fiona might never completely act like a hippo.

“The fact that she’s alive today is a bit of a miracle,” said Gorsuch.

Then in October, Fiona caught national attention when she photobombed a couple's engagement.

Hayley Roll and Nick Kelble went to the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden on Oct. 8 to celebrate the one-year anniversary of their relationship. They were waiting in line to have their photo taken with the famous Fiona when she walked under water to the viewing window — hippos don't swim, but propel themselves up through water when they need to take a breath.

Season 2 of the Fiona Show will be broadcast on Facebook Watch.

“We weren’t sure about doing a second season of the show. Fiona’s a healthy, normal hippo at this point and most of her big milestones are behind her,” said Chad Yelton, Cincinnati Zoo’s vice president of communications. “But there’s still an incredible amount of interest in her and we think her unique personality can carry the show. She seems to like being in the spotlight, so we’ll continue as long as that’s the case.”

Photo from Liz Dufour /The Cincinnati Enquirer via AP, File