World's First Ultrasound Image of a Nile Hippo in the Womb Confirms that Cincinnati Zoo's Hippo Bibi is Expecting!

The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden is kicking off 2017 with some big news! Zoo scientists and animal staff captured the first ever ultrasound image of a Nile hippo fetus last week, confirming that 17-year-old Bibi is pregnant. Keepers, and almost everyone who visited the new Hippo Cove in July of 2016, observed Bibi and her male companion, 35-year-old Henry, breeding. Suspecting and hoping that this behavior resulted in conception, reproductive physiologists, led by Dr. Jessye Wojtusik, from the Zoo's Center for Conservation & Research of Endangered Wildlife (CREW) began to perform weekly ultrasounds in August. "In the early months, the uterus and developing fetus are located dorsally (closer to her spine). Once the fetus increases to a certain size it pushes lower into the abdomen so we are able to visualize it. We can now see the spine and beating heart," said Wojtusik. "Ultrasound provides a more definitive diagnosis of pregnancy than hormone profiles, which are sometimes misleading, and allows fetal viability assessment." Wojtusik credits the hippo keeper team with making this milestone pregnancy diagnosis possible, saying that "Hippos are generally known for being very difficult to train and many folks were skeptical that we would be able to pull this off." Keepers used positive reinforcement, primarily Bibi's favorite foods, to condition the 3200-pound hippo to stand in a certain location, lean against a gate and stay still during ultrasound procedures. "F...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news