Berlin Zoo Welcomes Rare Baby Pygmy Hippo with the Cutest Name
The Berlin Zoo in Germany welcomed their new baby Pygmy Hippo!
In a TikTok posted by NBC News, the Pygmy Hippo named Bread Roll made her official appearance at the zoo. According to the TikTok, Bread Roll was born to mother Debbie and father Tobi back in May, and has been doing well.
@nbcnews A rare baby hippo made an appearance at Berlin Zoo
original sound - nbcnews - nbcnews
In the video, Bread Roll roamed around her enclosure and seemed to pose for all the cameras that captured her. She explored and sniffed around for snacks and stuck close to her mom most of the time. At one point, she followed her mom's lead and they all ate grass together.
People on the internet were absolutely delighted by the arrival of Bread Roll at the zoo, with users commenting on how "sweet" and "adorable" she looked while she moved around her enclosure.
One commenter even went as far as to say that Bread Roll is "Like Moo Deng ," the viral baby Pygmy Hippo who was born back in 2024 at the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Thailand. Similar to the way everyone fell in love with Moo Deng, people also can't get enough of Bread Roll's adorable and shiny appearance.
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Why Pygmy Hippos are so rare
Despite becoming a viral sensation in recent years, Pygmy Hippos are actually not as common as you might think.
According to the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF), "Wild pygmy hippos live a reclusive and nocturnal life in swampy forests in West Africa." They can only be found in West Africa, and are typically found in "Liberia, with smaller populations in Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Côte d'Ivoire."
Right now, Pygmy Hippos are considered an endangered species and "fewer than 2,500 individuals" exist in the world. "The species has been greatly impacted by deforestation from logging, mining, and agricultural expansion, and from poaching," the WWF explained. "As a result, their numbers continue to decrease, unfortunately."
The WWF considered Pygmy Hippos a hard species to observe and find in the wild because they're so few out in the wild. "Pygmy Hippos live a solitary, secretive life along rivers and in swamps," the organization also notes. "They don't vocalize much, and they're only active at night."
Because of their behavior in the wild, the only way scientists have been able to study these hippos at the zoos where they reside.
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This story was originally published June 12, 2026 at 1:12 PM.