A male Nile hippopotamus calf was born at the Gulf Breeze Zoo on September 23, weighing about 75 pounds. He is called Chibuzo, and he is the third calf for Cleopatra and Kiboko, who have lived at the Florida zoo since 2005.
Both mother and calf are healthy and already out on exhibit.
“We are excited to welcome a new member of our hippopotamus herd,” said park director Cassidy Mazzone. “Cleo is a great mother and has been bonding with her calf.”
Born in the water
Nile hippo calves are born in water and nurse there, surfacing every few minutes to breathe. Gestation is about eight months, short for an animal this size.
Adults spend most of the daylight hours partly submerged to stay cool, then come out at night to graze. In the wild they will walk as far as five miles to do it.
A vulnerable species
The IUCN lists the Nile hippopotamus as vulnerable. The two pressures are habitat loss and illegal hunting, for meat and for the ivory in hippo canine teeth.
The Gulf Breeze Zoo is part of Zoofari Parks, which also runs the Alabama Safari Park, Texas Zoofari Park and Virginia Safari Park, and funds field projects through its own conservation grants program. The group’s breeding record includes its first second-generation white rhino calf, born at Gulf Breeze in 2025.
Seeing Chibuzo
The hippo family is visible from the Safari Express train where it passes Kiboko River Station. The zoo says the best window is between 12:30 and 1:30 p.m.
