Go over there, Mu Deng.
A zoo in Virginia gave away a hippo for Christmas because a hippo was enough.
A female pygmy hippo calf was born at the Metro Richmond Zoo in early December, making it the third calf of the endangered species to be born at the zoo in the past five years, officials said.
Mother hippo Iris gave birth to a yet-to-be-named calf on December 9th, and the zoo is currently Contest to name a new calf.
A whopping 14,000 people turned out to vote on their names, and the candidates were narrowed down to Poppy, Juniper, Hammy May, and Omi.
This baby girl is the river horse's third calf, shared with his current spouse, Corwin.
Iris keeps to her schedule. The new hippo is the second to give birth in December, according to the zoo. All three of her offspring were also female.
“Most people don't get any hippos at all for Christmas, so I think we've been lucky to have gotten two in the last few years,” zoo officials said. news release Tuesday — in honor of famous holiday songs.
The newborn baby underwent a newborn exam and weighed 15 pounds, just a fraction of the 600 pounds that authorities say a fully grown pygmy hippo weighs.
Hippos are usually a polygamous species in nature, but in recent decades they have been a poor choice for pygmies.
When hippos were listed as endangered in 2015, there were only about 2,500 adult hippos left, and even then, officials were subtracting that number from 1993 population estimates, the report said. states. London Zoological Society.
“This birth, like previous births of iris, plays an important role in the conservation of this rare and elusive species. Unlike common hippos, pygmy hippos do not live in groups; They usually live alone or in pairs. For this reason, Iris's two previous calves were transferred to other zoo facilities when they grew up to live with future mates and continue contributing to the conservation of the species. ,” the zoo said in a news release.
Earlier this year, another baby pygmy hippo took the internet by storm. Moo Den, who was born in a Thai zoo and has a habit of trying to bite people, has captured the hearts of far and wide and become one of the year's most prolific memes.
