Public voting has opened to name the Metro Richmond Zoo’s newborn female hippo calf.
The calf was born on December 9, a Christmas Eve news release from the Virginia-based animal shelter said.
“Hippo hooray! The zoo is very excited to announce a happy addition to our animal family just in time for the holidays: a baby hippo. The baby arrived on December 9, 2024, after a 7-month pregnancy. Congratulations to hippo parents Iris and Corwin on the birth of another baby girl,” said the zoo in Mosley on release.
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The unnamed calf is the hippo couple’s third in the past 4½ years, the zoo said, and the second to be born in time for Christmas.
The release included a video of the zoo’s newest resident roaming the enclosure with his mother. The video was set to the Christmas song “I Want a Hippo for Christmas.”
The pygmy hippo was born Dec. 9, the Metro Richmond Zoo in Mosley, Va., said. (Metro Richmond Zoo)
“A lot of people don’t get a hippo at all for Christmas, so we feel lucky to have gotten two over the years,” said the Metro Richmond Zoo.
Iris gave birth to the calf in water, her first water birth, according to the zoo. Pygmy hippos, unlike other larger, more common ones, breed on land and in water.
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“The baby’s natural instincts kicked in, and he started walking in the water quickly,” the zoo noted.
The newborn weighed a “healthy 15 pounds” and will weigh about 600 pounds when fully grown, the release noted.
On Friday, December 27, the Metro Richmond Zoo launched a poll to name the new cub.
The newborn female calf weighed 15 kilograms when it was five days old, the zoo said. (Metro Richmond Zoo)
Options include Poppy, Juniper, Hammie Mae, and Omi.
Poppy was chosen as an homage to her mother’s floral name, Juniper is a nod to her winter birthday, Hammie Mae is “a delicious southern tie to Virginia ham” and Omi is a Yoruba word for “water,” according to Metro Richmond. The Zoo.
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The survey received an “overwhelming response” within 24 hours of being open, the zoo said in an article posted on its website and Facebook page.
“We are delighted to see so many people joining in the excitement of naming our lovely baby hippo.”
“We are delighted to see so many people joining in the joy of welcoming our beloved baby hippo,” said the zoo.
The zoo received more than 14,000 votes from “hippo fans around the world” on the first day of voting.
A newborn pygmy hippo, right, was the third cub born to mother Iris, left. (Metro Richmond Zoo)
The Metro Richmond Zoo clarified that if there is no name that wins a majority of the votes, there will be a second vote with the top two entries.
The zoo also included a graph of the results so far but declined to say which name was leading.
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Voting closes on December 31 at 2pm, and the winning name will be announced on New Year’s Day.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Metro Richmond Zoo for additional comment.
The pygmy hippo’s name will be announced on New Year’s Day, according to the Metro Richmond Zoo. (Metro Richmond Zoo)
Metro Richmond Zoo’s newborn hippopotamus was born months after Moo Deng, another hippopotamus, went viral with his cute antics in Thailand.
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Ever since Moo Deng gained international attention over the summer, he’s been featured on “Saturday Night Live,” correctly predicted the 2024 US presidential election, promoted the trend of makeup and caused two-hour traffic jams on the road to his zoo. .
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