Toronto has its own baby pygmy hippo, but the public will have to wait to see her.
The Toronto Zoo says a female pygmy hippo calf was born Sunday morning to 20-year-old mother Kindia.
The zoo says the calf took her first steps within minutes of her birth and was confidently navigating her enclosure within a few hours.
It says the newborn is Kindia’s third calf, and that the pygmy hippo is an attentive and protective mother.
Zoo CEO Dolf DeJong said in a statement the birth is especially exciting because pygmy hippos are endangered amid habitat loss from logging and human settlements.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature says only about 2,000 to 3,000 pygmy hippos are believed to remain in the wild.
The zoo says the public cannot yet see the calf while she bonds with her mother under zookeepers’ careful watch, as calf survival can be challenging for the species.
In July, thousands of people flocked to a Thai zoo to celebrate the first birthday of Moo Deng, another baby pygmy hippo that has become a social media sensation.
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