Transfer over, Moo Deng.
A Virginia zoo acquired a hippopotamus for Christmas as a result of solely a hippopotamus would do.
A feminine pygmy hippopotamus calf was born on the Metro Richmond Zoo in early December, marking the third calf of the endangered species to be born on the zoo within the final 5 years, officers mentioned.
The mom hippo Iris gave beginning to the yet-to-be-named calf on Dec. 9 and the zoo is at the moment holding a contest to call the brand new calf.
A whopping 14,000 individuals flocked to vote on a possible moniker, and the choices have been narrowed right down to Poppy, Juniper, Hammie Mae, and Omi.
The infant woman is the river horse’s third calf shared along with her present mate, Corwin.
Iris retains to a schedule. The brand new hippo is the second she has given beginning to in December, in keeping with the zoo. All three of her offspring have been feminine as nicely.
“Most people don’t get a hippopotamus for Christmas at all, so we feel lucky to have received two over the years,” zoo officers mentioned in a information launch Tuesday — in a nod to the well-known vacation tune.
The brand new child had a neonatal examination and weighed in at 15 kilos, a mere fraction of the 600 kilos officers say absolutely grown pygmy hippos can boast.
Hippos are normally a naturally polygamous species, nevertheless it’s been slim pickings for the pygmies over the previous couple of a long time.
When the hippo was declared endangered in 2015, there have been solely about 2,500 mature ones left, and even then officers have been pulling that from a 1993 inhabitants estimate, in keeping with the Zoological Society of London.
“This birth – like all of Iris’ births – plays an important role in helping protect this rare and elusive species. Unlike common hippos, pygmy hippos do not live in groups and are usually solitary or in pairs. For this reason, once Iris’ two previous calves grew up, they were moved to other zoological facilities to live with future mates and continue contributing to the conservation of their species,” the zoo wrote within the information launch.
Earlier this 12 months, one other child pygmy hippo took the web by storm. Moo Deng, a new child at a zoo in Thailand with a penchant for making an attempt to chunk individuals, captured the hearts of individuals far and broad and have become one of the prolific memes of the 12 months.
