A public vote has opened to name the Metro Richmond Zoo’s newborn female pygmy hippopotamus calf.
The calf was born Dec. 9, a Christmas Eve news release from the Virginia-based zoo announced.
“Hippo hooray! The zoo is excited to announce a heartwarming addition to our animal family just in time for the holidays: a baby pygmy hippo. The newborn arrived on December 9, 2024, after a 7-month gestation. Congratulations to pygmy hippo parents Iris and Corwin on the birth of another little girl,” the zoo in Mosley said in the release.
The unnamed calf is the hippo couple’s third in the last 4½ years, the zoo said, and is the second born at Christmastime.
The release included a video of the zoo’s newest resident romping about her enclosure with her mother. The video was set to the Christmas carol “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas.”
“Most people don’t get a hippopotamus for Christmas at all, so we feel lucky to have received two over the years,” the Metro Richmond Zoo said.
Iris delivered this calf in water, her first water birth, according to the zoo. Pygmy hippopotamuses, unlike their larger, more common counterparts, give birth on both land and in water.
“The baby’s natural instincts kicked in, and she started moving around in the water immediately,” the zoo noted.
The newborn weighed in at “a healthy 15 pounds” and will weigh up to 600 pounds when she is fully grown, the release noted.
On Friday, Dec. 27, the Metro Richmond Zoo launched a poll to name the new calf.
Choices include Poppy, Juniper, Hammie Mae, and Omi.
Poppy was chosen as a tribute to her mother’s floral name, Juniper is a nod to her winter birthday, Hammie Mae is “a sweet and southern tie to Virginia ham” and Omi is the Yoruba word for “water,” according to the Metro Richmond Zoo.
The poll received an “incredible response” in the first 24 hours it was open, the zoo said in an update posted to its website and Facebook page.
“We’re thrilled to see so many people joining in on the fun of naming our adorable pygmy hippo baby.”
“We’re thrilled to see so many people joining in on the fun of naming our adorable pygmy hippo baby,” the zoo said.
The zoo received more than 14,000 votes “from hippo fans all over the world” during the first day of voting.
The Metro Richmond Zoo clarified that if no name won an outright majority of the votes, there would be a second vote with the top two contenders.
The zoo also posted a graph of the results so far but declined to say which name was in the lead.
Since Moo Deng first received worldwide attention over the summer, she has been parodied on “Saturday Night Live,” correctly predicted the 2024 U.S. presidential election, inspired a makeup trend and prompted a two-hour-long traffic jam on the road to her zoo.
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