Cincinnati Zoo's famous hippo Fiona is going to be a big sister

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- More than five years ago, Fiona the hippo was born at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Gardens.

Fiona is now famous all over the world and soon will be a big sister. Her 23-year-old mother, Bibi, is pregnant after meeting 18-year-old hippo Tucker last September, according to the zoo.

“We weren’t planning to welcome a baby this soon, but nature found a way and ignored our calendar,” Christine Gorsuch, the zoo’s director of animal care, said in a news release. “Most forms of contraception, in hippos or humans, is not 100% reliable. The dose that was previously effective for Bibi did not prevent pregnancy this time.”

The zoo is hoping for a full-term pregnancy after Fiona was born six weekends premature and wouldn't have survived if it wasn't for the human caregivers.