The young female made her public debut this week, and the Metro Richmond Zoo is asking fans to vote on her name—a choice between Poppy and Hammie Mae

The excitement and global interest in Virginia’s newborn pygmy hippo comes after a female two-month-old pygmy hippo named Moo Deng from Thailand’s Khao Kheow Open Zoo launched an internet craze back in September.

The Metro Richmond Zoo has had pygmy hippos since 2018, but it was Thailand’s Moo Deng that made the miniature, moist mammals household names. As I walk into the baby’s pen, she follows her mother Iris and slides into a fresh pool of water.

Social media sensation. Born on July 20, 2024, Moo Deng, meaning "bouncy pig" in Thai, quickly rose to fame as a social media sensation. The baby pygmy hippop

The baby pygmy hippopotamus catapulted to internet fame when images of her went viral in September. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Iris and “New Deng” (trademark pending) have been relocated to a private hay-filled enclosure for the time being, which will allow them to properly bond, zoo officials said. Eventually, the calf will move into the zoo’s publicly viewable indoor pool exhibit, where it will probably endear itself to adoring fans eager for more baby hippo content.

The public is able to see the new endangered pygmy hippo calf at the Metro Richmond Zoo in Virginia. The mother and calf returned to the pool Dec. 30.