Welcome, Poppy.

Baby pygmy hippo Poppy was born at the Metro Richmond Zoo in Virginia in December. (Metro Richmond Zoo via AP)
Poppy weighed 15 pounds at five days old. (Metro Richmond Zoo via AP)
Pygmy hippos have skin that makes a pink, oily goo. The goo helps protect them from sunburn. It also keeps their skin from getting too dry. (AP/Sakchai Lalit)
Moo Deng is a baby pygmy hippo. She plays with a zookeeper in Thailand. Her name in Thai is a kind of meatball. It means “bouncy pork.” (AP/Sakchai Lalit)
Moo Deng and her mother Jona rest at a zoo in Thailand. People love to visit them. (AP/Sakchai Lalit)

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Poppy is a pygmy (PIG-me) hippo. She is a few months old. Her skin makes a pink goo. It protects her from sun burn.

The zoo is glad to have her. There are not many of these hippos left.

Pray: Thank God for zoo workers. They help creatures grow and have families.

Read More:
The Metro Richmond Zoo in Virginia welcomed a pygmy hippopotamus. Poppy was born in December. Fully grown pygmy hippos can weigh 600 pounds. They eat grass, leaves, and fallen fruits. Only about 2,500 adult pygmy hippos are in the wild. They live in tropical forests of West Africa. They stay near streams, wet forests, and swamps. Their homes are often used for farm land. Some want the animals for meat. Many work to protect them. People in Liberia call them “water cows.” Can you guess why?

“For every beast of the forest is mine.” (Psalm 50:10)

Recommended Reading: For more about hippos, see Hippos Go Berserk! by Sandra Boynton.