Zoo promotes hippo's 3rd birthday to raise funds for animals affected by bushfires

In the wake of wildfires that devastated Australia, the Cincinnati Zoo attempted to raise money for the affected Australian wildlife by promoting the third birthday of its Hippopotamus Fiona. According to reports, the zoo has asked people to buy t-shirts that will directly benefit the Bushfire Emergency Wildlife Fund. The t-shirt has a photo of a Koala and a Kangaroo hugging Fiona with a caption that says "Supporting our friends down under".

Attempt to help the affected animals

The funds raised from selling the t-shirts will be sent to zoos located in Victoria to help them facilitate the care of all those animals who suffered in the wildfires. According to reports, the zoo will donate an additional $5,000 to the total amount raised from the sales of the t-shirts.

Fiona was born in the year 2017 with a mere weight of 29 pounds. According to reports, a hippo should weigh 55 to 120 pounds at the time of its birth. Two years after her birth, Zoo officials said that Fiona weighed a total of 1,300 pounds.

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Ellen DeGeneres launched a fundraiser on GoFundMe

Ellen DeGeneres had launched a $5 million fundraiser for the fire crisis in Australia. DeGeneres said that she had been overwhelmed by what she saw on the television about the people and animals who had died in the wildfires alongside all those who had lost their homes.

The situation in Australia prompted her to start the fundraiser on online platform 'GoFundMe'. According to reports, a total of $335,000 had been raised in a matter of just 10 hours with Shutterfly who is also a partner with The Ellen DeGeneres Show making a $100,000 donation.

Australian comedian Celeste Barber also managed to raise more than $30 million for fire services tackling the wildfires. The comedian has more than 6.4 million followers on Instagram and that prompted people from the UK, US and France to make donations in order to raise funds for the New South Wales Rural Fire Service.

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