The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden's fabulous Fiona turned 4 years old on Jan. 24, and to celebrate, the zoo hosted a one-of-a-kind fundraiser where the winners get to meet the sassy hippo in person.
Float4Fiona is a floating fruit race where people purchased a numbered apple, which was placed in Fiona and Bibi's habitat at Hippo Cove.
After, those hundreds of apples very slowly bobbed their way to the finish line.
The owner of the winning apple and three guests get to meet Fiona — "the apple of everyone’s eye" — in person. Multiple names were assigned to each apple number.
The winners of the first place apple were Erin Centner, Debbie Garcia, Margaret Larkey, Joseph Mckissock and Joanna Myers.
“Since we can’t invite people to a big old party for Fiona this year, we will hold the race before the Zoo opens on her birthday, Jan. 24, and share it live on Facebook so people everywhere can watch and hope their apple finishes first,” said Cincinnati Zoo director Thane Maynard in a release. “If you win and are not able to travel to meet Fiona in person, you can opt for a private video chat and custom-made hippo kiss painting.”
The owners of apples two, three and four receive a special limited-edition Fiona kiss print.
Watch the video on Facebook.com/cincinnatizoo.
Photos by Francisco Huerta
