On Friday, the L.A. Zoo welcomed a "surprise" baby hippo whose mother was on birth control.
Zoo officials began to suspect the 10-year-old mother, Mara, was pregnant
when she gained weight, The Los Angeles Times reported.
The unnamed baby hippo is the first to be born at the zoo in 26 years. Some zoo visitors who were at the exhibit witnessed the birth, the Times reported. Officials weren’t able to determine the gender of the baby because they are allowing space for the animals to preserve the mother-child bond.
Mara was transferred to the L.A. zoo from Topeka, Kansas, in December. The baby hippo’s father, Adhama, came to the zoo from San Diego last year.
Hippos commonly give birth in the water and remain there for a couple of weeks, said Discovery News. Mara began her labor in the water but moved to dry land to deliver her baby.
Twitter users seemed delighted by the news.
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