CINCINNATI -- Here's the latest baby hippo update: She's an adorable little swimmer.
Fiona, the Cincinnati Zoo's premie baby hippo, is getting the hang of swimming, diving and floating in her personal "pool," zoo officials said Tuesday. See the cuteness for yourself below.
Fiona's weight is up 1.7 pounds, which is great news; the zoo said her suckling response has kicked in.
She's still getting a low dose of oxygen to help her premature lungs function properly. Fiona's taking her job of gaining weight pretty seriously -- she drank more from her bottle Monday than ever before.
She took her first (wobbly) steps on Sunday.
Fiona was put on a feeding tube Friday after her energy was low due to a weak suckling response.
Fiona has received around the clock care since she was born six weeks early on Jan. 24. She weighed 29 pounds when she was born, which is about 25 pounds lighter than the lowest recorded birth weight for this species. The normal range for a newborn Nile hippo is 55 to 120 pounds.
