4 MORE: Bibi
As part of our year-end issue, we are revisiting Cincinnati People interviews from 2021.
We checked in with Bibi, via Wendy Rice, senior keeper at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden.
The original interview from May is below.
WHAT’S BEEN THE BIGGEST SURPRISE TO YOU IN 2021?
From Bibi’s perspective, I would say the addition of a 4,100-pound male hippo has by far been the biggest surprise of 2021!
Obviously there’s no way for us to share our plans or intentions to the animals in our care, so the addition of new individuals is always a surprise for them! We’ve been so lucky that Tucker has been a perfect gentleman and has made the introduction process very easy. It was really scary for our team because Fiona is a little on the smaller side and Tucker ended up being MUCH larger than our previous male hippo (Fiona’s father), Henry, so we were definitely concerned about how well they would get along and whether or not Fiona would be able to hold her own during the sparring and rough-housing that is always part of establishing a new social grouping. But fortunately, Tucker has been great with both of our girls!
WHAT’S CHANGED SINCE WE LAST SPOKE?
Similarly, the addition of Tucker has been the biggest change in Bibi’s life and her role as mother to Fiona. It can be really hard for the keeper staff to interpret the intentions and motivations of our animals, but we can’t help but wonder if Bibi feels like she needs to protect Fiona from Tucker. Tucker hasn’t acted aggressively or anything, but Bibi has always seemed to understand that Fiona is smaller and younger and should be interacted with in a very specific and age-appropriate way. Bibi was so good at both coaching and refereeing Fiona and Henry’s interactions so we anticipated that she would probably do the same with Tucker and Fiona, but that hasn’t necessarily been the case. We suspect that because Fiona is much older now, Bibi doesn’t feel like she needs to intervene much (if at all) in their socializations, and for the most part, she’s been letting the two of them establish their own dynamic without much interference.
WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED ABOUT CINCINNATI?
Our Cincinnati community continues to be as amazing, loving and supportive as ever! Tucker has been fully embraced with open arms and it’s been really cool to watch our guests have “wow” moments with him! Tucker isn’t comfortable participating in the feedings that happen at our Behind-The-Scenes area on habitat, so during those moments he’s usually checking out the guests thru the windows…he’ll stand on his back feet in the deep end and push his front feet and face against the window and that puts him at eye level with our guests. Kids absolutely LOVE it! He’s really developing his own fan base and quickly becoming a favorite for many guests!
WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO IN 2022?
I would guess that our hippos are looking forward to having their social hierarchy all sorted out in 2022 and gaining familiarity and comfort with each other. The process is taking as long as it needs to and we’re moving at a slow but steady pace with the hopes of establishing a happy and stable bloat of 3. We also look forward to many more of our guests (across the country and internationally) returning to visit us again after the long absences that were made necessary by covid. All in all, the future is looking bright for our Cincy Zoo hippos!