The Zoo has announced that Toni, its beloved , is being prepared to move to , where she will take up residence at Mulhouse Zoo.
She is moving to the Alsatian institution as part of the European Endangered Species Program (EEP), a breeding program focused on maintaining healthy populations of in captivity.
Since her birth on June 3, 2024, tiny Toni has won the hearts of locals and attracted a huge online following. The Berlin Zoo’s Instagram following, for instance, has swelled from 125,000 to 254,000 since she arrived on the scene.
Her popularity was also helped by her high-visibility sponsor, for whom she was ultimately named in a contest that saw 20,000 suggestions submitted — Berlin-born soccer player Antonio Rüdiger, a defender for the German national squad and Real Madrid in Spain.
‘Toni Time’ will allow fans to say goodbye to Instagram star
The Berlin Zoo has now set up a week of events focused on the small hippopotamus before she departs.
“Toni Time,” say zoo organizers, will allow visitors to see Toni in action, bid farewell and get a last photo with her before she leaves for her new home.
The sessions will take place at 1:30 p.m. (1130 GMT) every day, between August 18 and 24.
Depending on Toni’s preference, she will either be treated to a shower or an extra portion of peanuts — her favorite snack — at the zoo’s Hippo Bay facility during the events.
How is Toni the hippo being prepared to move?
Toni has been undergoing a new daily regimen since it was decided she would be moving to France.
That regimen includes daily “crate training” to get her used to spending time in her transport confines before departure.
Toni has also been spending afternoons on her own rather than with her mother Debbie.
Pygmy hippos are reclusive, solitary and nocturnal animals. Zoo officials say it is entirely normal for those living in the wild to seek out their own surroundings when they are Toni’s age.
Toni the hippo’s popularity raises awareness for endangered species
Pygmy hippos, native to West Africa, are on the red list of endangered species with less than 2,500 remaining in the wild according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), a Switzerland-based nature conservancy.
Native to Guinea, Ivory Coast, Liberia and Sierra Leone, and formerly Nigeria, the creature faces threat due to illegal poaching and the loss of natural habitat — mainly rainforest or marshy woods — to agricultural and real estate interests.
Their reclusive and solitary nature also makes them highly sensitive to changes and disturbances around them.
Berlin Zoo Director Andreas Knieriem says Toni’s popularity has helped raise awareness for the plight of the creatures.
“Toni is a wonderful ambassador for her species,” he says. “She has the ability to touch people in a special way. That is the key to progress in protecting endangered animals and fostering the idea of species protection.”
It is hoped that in Mulhouse, Toni will further help the species and the EEP by having babies of her own.
Edited by: Louis Oelofse
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