Fritz the Hippo's first year

 Photos and story by Molly Merrow (of course)

Here comes Fritz (age 3 months)

Welcome to Fritz's birthday week! The Cincinnati Zoo will have special treats for all the animals on Thursday, in honor of Fritz's first birthday.

How hard is it to be the little brother of the most famous hippo in the world? You would have to be very brave and bold, not to mention sassy, but Baby Fritz certainly can hold his own in this hippo family at Hippo Cove at the Cincinnati Zoo.  

He was born on August 3 of 2022, accompanied by much anticipation and excitement. The fans of the famous Fiona were following Bibi's pregnancy day by day, anxious to meet the new family member. Would it be a girl or a boy? Would it be full term? How would Fiona react? How long until the whole family could be seen together in the pool? And a name for the little one, to go with Fiona?

He arrived right on time, healthy and weighing what a normal baby hippo should weigh. Big sister Fiona, now six years old, had come prematurely and weighed only 29 pounds, while a normal baby hippo would weight 50 to 100 pounds. Fiona made history by her upbringing by human keepers, who even brought in some vascular experts from the nearby Children's Hospital when Fiona needed IV's. Fiona's precarious journey was shared day by day by the zoo on social media, and Fiona became a worldwide sensation. She was eventually able to rejoin her mother Bibi and father Henry. Sadly, Henry passed away a few months after the bloat was reunited, but at least she got to know her daddy.

Bibi and her calf remained behind the scenes for several weeks, bonding. The zoo announced the baby's name when he was two weeks old. He was dubbed Fritz.

After a few weeks, Bibi and Fritz started to spend a little time in the outdoor habitat, away from Fiona and Fritz's dad Tucker. 

Fritz at 3 weeks, with his mom Bibi.

Fritz at 3 weeks, quite well protected by his mom.

Tiny Fritz, 3 weeks old.

Fritz at 3 months and Bibi at window

When Fritz was three weeks old, Fritz and Fiona met for just a few minutes. That time was increased gradually until Mother Bibi was comfortable with her two children being together. 

Little Fritz with mom and big sister.

                        Baby Fritz, giving some sass to big sister Fiona

                                    Fritz with mom and big sister.

Fritz poses for his portrait.

Fritz had no fear, even when he was tiny

On October 13, dad Tucker was allowed to join the bloat for short periods, gradually to increase until the whole family was always out together. The following photos were taken in January, when Fritz was five months old.

                                  Fritz blowing bubbles next to Tucker.

                          Fritz is fascinated by Tucker's huge mouth.

            It looks like Tucker is giving some fatherly advice to his son.

Fritz has kisses for Dad

Blowing more bubbles with Dad Tucker

                                                        

                                      Bibi kisses her little son Fritz

                                                Baby Fritz playing with the fishies.

           And here's the whole family, Tucker, Fiona, Fritz and Bibi.

     

Fritz is a fun loving little boy, often called Tater Tot, or just Tot. Maybe because he looked like a potato when he was little?

At Bibi's birthday party in February, everyone got some treats. Here's Fritz, Bibi and Fiona at the wall with keeper Jenna.

            Bibi and the kids were at the wall begging for party treats, 

                   but Tucker was a gentleman and stayed back. 

Fritz in April at age 7 1/2 months. Clever and always up to something.

Fiona may be an international celebrity, and certainly people have been coming from all over the world to see her since she made her debut, but the arrival of Fritz has only energized her fan base. Fiona may not be the tiny little baby she was in those early years, but she is still very cute and now a proud big sister of this remarkable baby brother.

The fans just keep coming. Fiona is even more popular than before, sharing the love with her family: her mom Bibi, her step-father Tucker, and now baby brother Fritz.

Fritz and the fishies in late July 2023.

Fritz with his dad Tucker, late July 2023

Fritz is popular with the kids

Fritz, so very cute, and almost a year old.

Fritz and his fish friends - end of July 2023

Nobody puts baby in the corner,
 unless baby is after a piece of lettuce.

Snack time and Fritz, Fiona and Bibi line up.
Tucker stays back and waits for his treats to be thrown.

Sometimes Fritz is a messy eater.

Tucker and son.

So tall...

It's been a big year in the life of a little hippo. He's learned to be an important part of the bloat. He's still nursing but he's gain some independence from mom, and bonded with dad and big sister. 

There have been some not-so-fun times when Tucker pooped on Fritz's head, probably not on purpose, but at least there is a pool nearby to clean up. But mostly fun times chasing Fiona around, biting his dad on the back end, biting his sister on her ear, biting everything in sight because it is fun.

A typical Fritz love bite.

 

And learning barrel rolls, even if Tucker gets in the way....

Fritz and his barrel rolls....

It's always fun to hitch a ride on dad too.

Getting a free ride.

And then there were the birthday parties, where he got to have a few bites of Fiona's cake in January, and everyone got to share in Bibi's cake in February. Even if Fritz was mostly too young to eat a lot of solid food then.

At Bibi's party, Jenna gives Bibi some lettuce,
 and Fritz hangs around with Fiona.

It has been a big year for Fritz. And more to come in his second year. Everyone is looking forward to a big party on Thursday, August 3. 

Little Hippo Matilda is one year old

 

Little Matilda of ABQ Biopark in Albuquerque NM

Matilda with her favorite toy. 

Matilda, the Nile Hippo baby of the ABQ Biopark, will celebrate her first birthday on July 19, 2022, 

Matilda loves her green ball.

Matilda is the third offspring of parents Karen and Moe at the Biopark. 

Mama Karen plays with Matilda and her ball.

Karen and Moe's first baby was a little girl named Boopie, now going by the name of Biopelo, who is in Dallas now and is mother of a little hippo born in 2019.

Their second baby, born in 2015, was named Brynn, until he moved to San Antonio Zoo to be with Karen's mother Uma, who is his grandmother, and now he goes by Timothy. 

Karen's late father Tumbo (Matilda and Timothy's grandfather) was a little bit famous too. He was featured on the cover of National Geographic in 2016 as the hippo photographed at San Antonio Zoo by Joel Santore for his well known Photo Ark.  Tumbo was 41 when he was photographed. He died at almost age 43, sadly. Click on the link below to see Tumbo.

Tumbo in Joel Santore's Photo Ark

Timothy is well known for his many charming and lovelorn letters to a famous little hippo girl in Cincinnati, Fiona.  Maybe those two will get together someday.

Matilda on shore with the beloved green ball. 

I visited Matilda at the end of June at the ABQ Biopark, and found her playing with her big green ball. She loved to roll it around, and try to bite it. Her mom Karen seemed to like the ball too.

Matilda uses her open mouth to steer the ball.

Matilda noses the ball.

She has learned to use her mouth to aim the ball,
 almost like she wants to eat it.

Karen chases Matilda and Matilda chases the ball.

Matilda has a large flat area, perfect for a game of ball.

 Babies and toddlers all seem to love playing with a ball. 

There is no underwater hippo viewing at ABQ Biopark,
but it was easy to see Matilda flying around the pool with her ball.

Attack mom and the ball at the same time.

Like a tug of war, Matilda and her mom go for the same prize.

When Matilda pushed the ball into the pool, it was even more fun. She could splash and push it all around. 

Matilda would "porpoise" out of the water to get the ball.

Hippos will often "porpoise" to the top of the pool, and Matilda liked to leap out at the ball, pushing it here and there.

So much splashing in the game of water polo.

Matilda thinks she is a seal, going to balance that ball on her nose.

Sometimes mom Karen got into the game, but daddy Moe seemed to just want to chill out.

Maybe Mom Karen wants to play too.

Matilda just wanted to play all day. Many zoo visitors gathered on the bridge to watch the little hippo play in the pool. 

Sometimes Matilda seemed to be biting the ball.

A content child.

Another score for Matilda.

And here's the whole family. Daddy Mo is behind Matilda,
 and Mom Karen has the ball.

Happy first birthday to Matilda.  Have a ball, little girl.