Meet five pygmy hippo babies born in 2024 and eclipsed by Moo Deng’s starpower

We mentioned in last week’s Pygmy Hippo Watch (not a phrase I ever expected to write) that Metro Richmond Zoo’s yet-unnamed baby was merely the most recent arrival in a personality-packed lineup of newborn pygmy hippos in the last year. But while Moo Deng is arguably the most famous baby hippo of 2024, she was not the first new arrival to the species in 2024! Let’s meet some of the other pint-sized hippopotami born last year, some of which marked the first pygmy hippo births at their zoo in years.

Ronda (Montgomery Zoo in Alabama)

Ronda was born February 11, 2024, to parents Asali and Mikey at the Montgomery Zoo. She is the eighth born under the Montgomery Zoo’s pygmy hippo breeding program coordinated under the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) Species Survival Plan (SSP) Programs. At 11 months old, Ronda is fully weaned from mom Asali but won’t be considered an adult for another few years. Check out Ronda on Montgomery Zoo’s social media: Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter).

Fun fact from Montgomery Zoo — whales are the closest living relative to hippos (river and pygmy).

Mailo (Attica Zoological Park in Athens, Greece)

Mailo was born to parents Lizzie and Jamal on February 19, 2024, at the Attica Zoological Park in Greece. As a boy, Mailo is a very special birth among the already rare and endangered species — the lack of male pygmy hippos in captivity complicates global breeding habits (which is one of the things tracked by the AZA in Species Survival Plans). He was the first birth at the zoo in 2024 and the park’s first pygmy hippo birth in ten years; before February, his parents were the zoo’s only pygmy hippos. Check out Mailo on Attica Zoological Park’s social media: Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

Fun fact from Attica Zoological Park — Pygmy hippopotami give birth late in the evening or night. The zoo team had to hang up a camera to monitor

Ruka (ZooTampa at Lowry Park, in Tampa, Florida)

Ruka was born March 31, 2024, to parents Zsa Zsa and Howie at Zoo Tampa at Lowry Park. She’s the fifth pygmy hippo calf born at the zoo, also resulting from an SSP pairing. Ruka is nine months old now and pretty independent, although ZooTampa reports on Instagram that she still relies on mom Zsa Zsa for some things. Check out Ruka on ZooTampa at Lowry Park’s social media: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and X (formerly Twitter).

Fun fact from ZooTampa — Ungulates (hoofed animals) are separated into two large groups based on the number of toes they walk on! Pygmy Hippos are in the group of even-toed ungulates called Artiodactyla, because they have four functional toes on each foot.

Toni (Zoo Berlin in Berlin, Germany)

Toni was born June 3, 2024, to parents Debbie and Tobi at Zoo Berlin in Germany. Weeks before Moo Deng hit the scene, this adorable little one was wow-ing TikTok viewers — the video of her first bath currently has 13.3 million views! Zoo Berlin became the first European zoo to breed pygmy hippos successfully in 1921, and the program’s wins continue with Toni. That said, Toni is Debbie’s first baby to raise in 14 years; her older siblings were born in 2004, 2007, and 2008. Check out Toni on Zoo Berlin’s social media: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), and YouTube. As a bonus, watch the zoo’s Best of Toni 2024 video.

Fun fact from Zoo Berlin — little pygmy hippos do not follow their mother; they lie safe in a hiding place where they are protected from predators and are sought out by their mothers to suckle.

Haggis (RZSS Edinburgh Zoo in Edinburgh, Scotland)

Though we’ve already devoted a whole post to young Haggis, who was born on October 30, 2024, we would be remiss to leave her out of this list of the year’s baby pygmy hippos. The Edinburgh Zoo set Haggis up as a challenger for Moo Deng, announcing her birth under the headline “Moo Deng who?” But, really, we love all of these pygmy hippos equally. (And we particularly love watching Haggis swim. Just look at those eyes!) Check out Haggis on the Edinburgh Zoo’s social media: YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and X (formerly Twitter).

Remember — these babies are all the more critical because pygmy hippos are a scarce species, with an estimated global population of roughly 2000-2500 adults in the wild. Humanity is their biggest enemy; habitat destruction and hunting in their native forests and swamps of West Africa (primarily Liberia and Cote D’Ivoire) have earned them an Endangered classification on the IUCN‘s Threatened Species (or Red) list and by the Zoological Society of London. That’s more than enough reason to celebrate