A baby pygmy hippo named Jellybean is capturing hearts online after arriving at Wildlife World Zoo in Arizona. The zoo revealed the baby hippo’s name after a public vote and the internet loved it.
Earlier this week, Arizona’s Wildlife World Zoo, Aquarium and Wildlife Park announced the newborn pygmy hippoBorn on January 22, his original name is Jellybean.
The name won with 81.3% of the vote, beating other candy-themed names such as Cadbury, Twixi and Taffy. Zoo President Kristy Hayden introduced Jellybean on the “Today” show on Feb. 23, holding the calf on her lap as the hosts cheered.
Rare and endangered species
Pygmy hippos are considered endangered, with only about 2,500 remaining in the wild, making the birth of Jellybean an important milestone.
Also read: Moo Deng turns one: Inside the viral baby pygmy hippo’s first birthday
According to TODAY, Jellybean weighed 11 pounds at birth and had grown to 33 pounds when last reported. Pygmy hippos can eventually weigh 350 to 600 pounds.
Jelly Bean arrived with her mother, Lollipop, at the Arizona Wildlife World Zoo in Litchfield Park, about 20 miles outside of Phoenix. Zoo officials hope the Jellybean’s popularity will raise awareness of the species’ conservation needs.
internet star
Social media is abuzz with comparisons between Jellybean and Moo Deng, a viral pygmy hippopotamus born in 2024 at the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Thailand.
Commenters on the Reuters post joked that Jellybean was the “American Moo Deng,” or the next big social media star.
After the BBC video went viral, users joked that Jellybean would be the next trend penguin documentaries and punch,monkey. The macaque became an internet star after being shown clinging to a stuffed orangutan for comfort at Japan’s Ichikawa Zoo.
“After penguins and punch, we have hippos!” read one comment, while another wrote: “If Jellybean isn’t going to carry around a stuffed hippo, we won’t be interested.”
