It’s only early January, but last year’s baby pygmy hippo mania remains strong. Thailand’s feisty Moo Deng became a social media sensation in 2024 and took the world by storm knee biting and snake play. Now, pygmy hippo lovers in the United States no longer have to go to Thailand, or even hop across the pond to Scotland and visit Haggis to see a new baby pachyderm.
On December 9, 2024, the Metro Richmond Zoo in Mosely, Virginia welcomed a 15-pound female baby pygmy hippo. It’s too early to tell whether this new baby will be as big a ham as Moo Deng.
After more than 116,000 votes from 165 countries, this new bundle of joy name was announced live on the TODAY show this morning. Poppy is the winner, with 52.8 percent of the votes.
Poppy was born to parents Iris and Corwan after one 7 month pregnancy. The girl is Iris and Corwin’s third calf in 4.5 years. This birth was also the first time that Iris gave birth under water. Common hippos usually give birth underwater, but their smaller relatives, the pygmy hippopotamus, are born on land or in water.
Poppy arrived December 9 at 4:50 PM, with several zookeepers and even some zoo guests present. According to zoo officials, the baby’s natural instincts kicked in and she immediately started moving in the water.
Poppy splashes around in her habitat. CREDIT: Metro Richmond Zoo.
At birth, Poppy weighed 15 pounds, but full-grown pygmy hippos can weigh as much as 600 pounds. According to the researchers, they are about ten times smaller than a standard-sized hippopotamus World Wildlife Fund. Despite their stocky size, these large mammals can move quite quickly. They can run around Average 18 kilometers per hoursimilar to lizards and humans.
On December 30 Iris and Poppy returned to the indoor pool and were seen by the general public for the first time. This was the first time the baby had been immersed in water since she was born in that same pool three weeks earlier.
“On the first day we lowered the water level so that the baby could feel comfortable in her new environment. We have gradually increased the level every day,” the zoo wrote in a statement. “Just like a human baby, our little hippo spends her days nursing, sleeping and pooping, but with one striking difference: she loves to swim!”
This winter, Poppy and Iris will remain in the indoor pool for public viewing during the day. During the evening they return to a room full of hay to rest. The zoo plans to move them to their outdoor habitat once the weather is warmer and Poppy has grown a bit bigger.
[ Related: Humans likely wiped out Cyprus’ tiny hippos and elephants in record time. ]
Pygmy hippos can also be spotted in a few other zoos including ZooTampa in Florida and the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston, Massachusetts. In the wild they occur in the forests and swamps of West Africa, mainly in Liberia. They are listed as endangeredof which it is estimated that only 2,500 remain in the wild due to habitat loss due to logging, forest management and other human activities.
“This birth – like all Iris births – plays an important role in protecting this rare and elusive species,” the zoo said.
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