#fiona the hippo

[local-hellhound-steals-spaghetti]

Btw if you want an example of actually cute and appropriate handling of a baby hippo in an accredited zoo with trained keepers, there’s always Fiona the Hippo at Cincinnati Zoo!

She was born premature and had to be hand raised initially

Fiona felt very safe with her keepers and she would regularly snuggle with them and snooze on their laps. They had to monitor her 24/7 and take feedings in shifts - and it was very uncertain whether she would even survive!

While you might say that it’s hypocritical to support free contact in one situation and not another, this is a situation where free contact was very much okay. They had to support Fiona like this as she was regularly needing medical intervention and needed to be constantly monitored around the clock.

What’s the difference between Fiona and Moo Deng’s situation? Agency and respect. Fiona was never harassed for views or forced into situations she didn’t want to be in.

The content they made with her was showing the process of hand raising a premature baby hippo. Even when they picked her up to put her in her pool she was never madly thrashing to get away.

The goal was always to transition her to be completely hands off and be with her mother Bibi. And her habitat is species appropriate with deep water for swimming in.

She was able to be reintroduced to her mother and grow up engaging in appropriate social behaviours in an enriching and species appropriate habitat.

And she’s now 7 years old and still thriving!

[m00nb04rd5]

Do a Hippo Moodboard! 🤣

Hippos (Hippopotamus amphibius)

[recently-reanimated]

So I heard moo deng (the viral hippo) was being abused and I was like "oh no" and clicked on the source.

It was a fucking tiktok. And not one from a zoologist or zookeeper it was some rando.

I've also seen people comparing her treatment to that of Fiona (a hippo born at the Cincinnati zoo) and one Fiona is not a pygmy hippo she probably has different enclosure needs. Two she was born prematurely so to my knowledge she needed a different level of care.

Furthermore, according to this source, the zoo complies with international standards. I don't know if those standards are up to snuff so if anyone has additional information please feel free to add it.

If Moo Deng is being mistreated and someone has a decent source please tell me. But so far it looks like people will just take a 10 second clip of her being sprayed with water and say "See! These Thai people are clearly unfit to take care of this animal. Unlike the American zoo keepers that cared for Fiona"

[bed-wed-behead-your-fave]

Fiona the hippo from real life

[splat1316]

[dyketennant]

shut the FUCK UP!!!!!!!! baby fiona the hippo

[crazycatsiren]

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FYI though, the #1 hippo in my heart remains Fiona. Fiona is 7 years old now and weighs 2400 pounds. ❤️

[anorganizedstreet]

[penelopevonstreets]

Ladies and gentlemen… HER!

“Primavera” 16x20, acrylic on canvas.

Featuring the famous Fiona of the Cincinnati Zoo!

Hope you guys like it!

[studioswitchum]

They painted the Fiona ride. I really don't like the effects of air brush. And I think they put too many wrinkles. It's like they don't know what they want (realistic or stylized)

[fuckyeahilike]

This terrifying monster is doing well for herself

Hippo Attack (x)

[pamhr]

:. Happy bday Fiona .:

Vía: https://cincinnatizoo.org/events/fiona-birthday/

[animalphotorefs]

Hippopotamus are up on the site!

We've got Nile hippos...

... and pygmy hippos!

Artists creating derivative or transformative works (without AI) have blanket permission to use all photos in the repository as references, including works that will/may be sold.

** Patreon ** -- *Ko-Fi**

[splat1316]

[stgroversfire]

Fiona would be so disappointed.

For some context OP, just because i'm proud of our zoo, Fiona is the 7 year old poster hippo of the Cincinnati Zoo, and she is absolutely beloved statewide. I work at my public library and you would not believe the sheer amount of Fiona children's books we circulate.

Fiona was born premature, weighing in at 26 pounds. A normal baby hippo weighs anywhere from 55-120 lbs. It wasn't likely she woukd survive. So immediately, comparing the care and handling of a premature baby hippo with a healthy baby pygmy is. Extremely silly.

Anyway. Moo Deng is a delight and I'm happy to see her caretakers building such trusting relationships with her :-)

People in my inbox trying to accuse Khao Kheow zoo of abusing Moo Deng and acting like they are experts who can point fingers and say the zoo and Moo Deng’s Thai keeper are unfit to take care of Moo Deng are so silly.

I’m Thai and I live only an hour drive away from the zoo. I used to visit the zoo frequently when I was a kid, and I — as well as any other Thai people — know the zoo does NOT abuse animals. It’s actually the opposite when they rescue and take in injured animals or animals who they rescued from abusive backgrounds.

Please don’t act like you know better than locals, who are familiar with the zoo and how they treat and save animals, just because you saw one TikTok post where a white person with white savior complex said Moo Deng was abused because her caretaker patted her on her butt a little too hard when they played, or because he manhandled her playfully when she, just like any other kids, threw a tantrum and tried to squirm away— even though Moo Deng’s mom, who could literally be seen eating next to Moo Deng when her caretaker “abused” her in those videos, trusts the caretaker to take care and look after Moo Deng for her and are always unbothered by the way Moo Deng is treated. (Because she knows Moo Deng is fine.) Just like how he took care of her other kids, Moo Deng’s older siblings, for the past 8 years.

And did I mention that Moo Deng’s older siblings are literally so clingy that they always demand to be close to their human caretaker? HE MUST’VE BEEN SOOOOO ABUSIVE TO THEM THAT THEY LIKE HIM THIS MUCH 😡

LOOK AT THESE PHOTOS (and gif) OF ONE OF MOO DENG’S OLDER SIBLINGS WITH HER CARETAKER (the same man who takes care of Moo Deng) AND HOW “SCARED” SHE IS / sarcasm

Anyway, this post explains so absolutely well why the baseless claims, about the zoo being abusive, are complete bullshit.

My favorite quote from them: “Please don't trust random (may I add racist?) foreigners on the internet over locals who actually knows what they're talking about.”

As a local who’s familiar with the zoo and has visited the place many, many times, Khao Kheow zoo and the caretaker NEVER abuse Moo Deng or any of their animals. Thank you.

*Please also follow and support the amazing, hardworking caretaker of Moo Deng and her family over at khamoo.andthegang — gif and all photos above credit to him

— peace and love, mod 2

[crazycatsiren]

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Fiona and baby brother Fritz. 🦛❤️