The Cincinnati Zoo's Hippo Cove, which opened in July 2016, is absolutely horrendous and outdated for today's standards. Their outdoor pool has only 70,000 gallons of water, when Toledo Zoo's hippo pool has five times that. And that is not the only thing, their outdoor exhibit is 3,300 sq. feet, about one-third of the average size in square feet in making it the second smallest hippo exhibit in any AZA zoo in the US (Only the Woodland Park Zoo has a smaller Nile Hippo exhibit at 3,150 square feet and they are soon getting rid of their last hippo, so that will make Cincinnati's the smallest in America). And let's not forget that most other zoos have only 1 or 2 hippos in a much bigger space than Cincy, which has 4 hippos, and only Disney's Animal Kingdom has more hippos than Cincinnati with 11. Heck even the Sedgwick County Zoo has an exhibit larger than Cincinnati and their exhibit opened in 1972. ANd the indoor space and pool is also ridiculously small compared to other zoos (I don't know the exact size but it is very small). What makes it the worst part is that the zoo clearly goes all in on their hippos, selling products relating to Fiona and her family left and right, and people don't seem to care how small and crowded Hippo Cove really is. And lastly, related to the zoo going all in with making Fiona and Fritz merchandise, I wonder why they wouldn't bother with using the money to build an actually decent exhibit, or at the very least, expanding their habitat for the hippos, especially considering that Cincinnati is also one of the richest zoos in the country. I honestly kind of feel bad for their hippos despite the fact that I love hippos so much.
