Today is the OPPOSITE of Halloween fun. The Cincinnati Zoo just announced that Fiona’s huge beautiful hippo father, Henry, had to be put down this morning after suffering from an ongoing infection, and I am shook in all the worst ways. One moment I was sitting at my desk reading shady Jelena updates, and the next I was sobbing into my shirt collar as news about Henry’s death started to pour in.
For roughly a month the zoo has been sharing that 36-year-old Henry was suffering from poor health, losing weight and facing a serious loss of appetitive. Since baby Fiona literally conquered death when she was born prematurely, no one really expected her dad to be defeated by this bout of sickess. But since the universe is out to personally victimize 2017, it only makes sense that Henry would be taken from us during the best holiday of the year. Current mood: being swallowed by an eternal darkness with no possibility for joy ever again.
We’re very sad to announce that our beloved Henry has died. Read more: https://t.co/3cx5vSMzWF pic.twitter.com/dAX2a4YQIa
— Cincinnati Zoo (@CincinnatiZoo) October 31, 2017
This morning, once it was clear that Henry’s condition wasn’t going to improve, keepers made the difficult but humane decision to euthanize him. “From meeting, bonding and breeding with his mate Bibi, to becoming a father to charismatic and spirited Fiona, Henry’s days in Cincinnati were filled with sunshine, watermelons, waterfalls and the highest quality of care that can be provided to any animal,” said Wendy Rice, a keeper at the Cincinnati Zoo. *weeps from every orifice*
Henry is survived by Fiona, Bibi and thousands of fans that this little bloat meant the world to. I hope that Henry’s hippo cove heaven is filled with tilapia and never-ending hose play, and I can’t wait to see his chin rolls again one day when I, too, find a way into hippo heaven. Goodbye, sweet Henry.
If anyone needs me, you can find me shouting into the sky: GIVE US HENRY BACK.