Fiona the baby hippo and how animals go viral

Washington

FIRST, Bao Bao and Bei Bei the pandas made a splash at the National Zoo in Washington. Then, April the Giraffe wowed fans at a game park in New York.

Now, meet Fiona the baby hippo, the pride and joy of Cincinnati.

Across America, zoos and animal parks are looking for the next internet sensation - a strategy that tugs at the country's heartstrings and generates tonnes of clicks, but one that can also backfire.

Fiona was born prematurely in January, weighing just 13 kilogrammes.

But from Tuesday, she will be the star of her own series, The Fiona Show, on Facebook's Watch, the social network's new platform for original video content.

For the premiere, the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden - which already has been sharing every little detail of Fiona's life on social media - has pledged to…