In an adorable video, Fiona the hippo was taking an underwater nap in her tank in Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden in Ohio while also snoring out bubbles.
Fiona is the celebrity four-year-old hippo prematurely born in 2017 and is known as the smallest Nile hippo ever born. She is named after the Shrek heroine because of her little ears.
The video by the Cincinnati Zoo shows that she is snuggled up against the glass and snoozing with a stream of bubbles rising through the water surface, according to MailOnline.
Fiona: The Smallest Nile Hippo
Fiona is the smallest Nile hippo ever to survive who became a celebrity after being born on January 24, 2017. She only weighs 29lbs which is well below the average birth weight of 55 to 120lbs.
According to Cincinnati Zoo director Thayne Maynard, Fiona won the hearts of the public for her determination to survive after being born six weeks early and underweight. Now, the hippo is living healthily and inspired many people.
In order to feed Fiona, a staff in the Cincinnati Zoo and the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington created a milk formula from Fiona's mother, Bibi. They also put Fiona in a hippo to help it survive.
Maynard noted that they were a nervous wreck every day following the birth of Fiona. She has become a celebrity that souvenirs were made based on her and the zoo even released a book about her to tell children about the hippo's against-all-odds story.
The bok included many facts about hippos, like how they are herbivores and could be dangerous to humans. Through this book, the zoo hopes to educate the public about hippos and teach people the message of hope and never giving up.
Hippo Sleeping Underwater
According to San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, hippos can live in the water and are found living in slow-moving rivers and lakes in Africa. Their eyes, ears, and nostrils are usually on top of the water surface but they can still hear and see even when their whole body is underwater.
Moreover, hippos have a set of built-in goggles, a clear membrane that covers their eyes while they are submerged underwater. While their nostrils are closed as they hold their breath for five minutes or longer when they are underwater.
As evident in Fiona's sleeping video, hippos can sleep underwater and uses a reflex that allows them to bob up, take a breath, and sink back down all the while without waking up.
But despite being well-adapted to life underwater, hippos do not have the ability to swim and float. Their bodies are too dense to float so they just p[ush themselves around by pushing off from the bottom of the river or by walking on the riverbed in a slow-motion gallop.
Hippos spend their time during the day wallowing in shallow waters and come out of the water in the evening for a night of grazing that goes on for six hours.
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Check out more news and information on Hippo on Science Times.
