‘Precious’ pygmy hippo warms hearts at Virginia zoo. See ‘adorable’ Moo Deng lookalike

A pygmy hippo gave birth to an “adorable” baby girl in front of patrons at a Virginia Zoo “just in time for the holidays.”

Staff at the Metro Richmond Zoo announced the newest addition to their pygmy hippo family Dec. 24, nearly three weeks after the baby girl was born. She’s the third baby born to pygmy hippopotamus pair Iris and Corwin in four and a half years, zookeepers said.

The mom gave birth in a pool Dec. 9 as zoo guests and zookeepers watched. The baby girl, still unnamed, began swimming right away, the zoo said. The mom and baby were then whisked away from the public exhibit.

Zookeepers said the baby hippo weighed in at 15 pounds at her 5-day-old checkup. She could eventually reach up to 600 pounds.

Social media users have called the baby girl “adorable” and compared her to viral Internet sensation Moo Deng, another pygmy hippo born at a zoo in Thailand.

The West African species is endangered, with fewer than 2,500 individuals estimated to be left in the wild, according to experts. For that reason, zookeepers said two of the other pygmy hippo babies born at Metro Richmond Zoo were moved to different facilities to eventually mate with other members of their species.

The Richmond zoo is the only place in the state where people can see hippos, zookeepers said.

The recent baby girl is the second pygmy hippo to be born right before the holidays in recent years, according to the zoo.

“Most people don’t get a hippopotamus for Christmas at all, so we feel lucky,” zookeepers said.

This story was originally published December 24, 2024 at 2:58 PM with the headline "‘Precious’ pygmy hippo warms hearts at Virginia zoo. See ‘adorable’ Moo Deng lookalike."