A Virginia zoo welcomes newborn pygmy hippopotamus as year ends
A female pygmy hippopotamus delivered a healthy calf at the Metro Richmond Zoo earlier this month, officials said — the third baby hippo born at the zoo within the past five years.
The mother Iris gave birth to the female calf on Dec. 9 following a seven-month gestation, zoo officials said. The newborn, who has yet to be named, is the third calf for Iris and the father, Corwin. She was also the second calf to be born in December, according to the zoo.
'Most people don't get a hippopotamus for Christmas at all, so we feel lucky to have received two over the years,' zoo officials said in a news release Tuesday.
Five days after her birth, the baby had a neonatal exam and weighed 15 pounds (6.8 kilograms). Officials said that fully grown pygmy hippos can weigh up to 600 pounds (270 kilograms).
According to the Richmond-area zoo, pygmy hippos are an endangered West African species, and only 2,500 mature hippos remain in the wild. Officials said pygmy hippos are distinctive from regular hippos because they do not live in groups and are usually solitary or in pairs.
'For this reason, once Iris' two previous calves grew up, they were moved to other zoological facilities to live with future mates and continue contributing to the conservation of their species,' the news release said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
03-06-2025
- Reuters
Mali suspends artisanal gold mining activities due to weather conditions
DAKAR, June 3 (Reuters) - Mali has suspended artisanal gold mining activities during the June to September rainy season to protect workers from landslides, the West African country's mines ministry said on Tuesday. A spokesperson for the ministry told Reuters that meteorological services have forecast heavy rains from June 15 to September 30. "The reason for this (suspension) is quite simply safety," the spokesperson said in a text message to Reuters. In March, the government of Africa's second-largest gold producer suspended the granting of new artisanal mining permits to foreigners after a couple of accidents left dozens dead. Artisanal mining is a common activity across much of West Africa, and has increased in recent years due to growing demand for the precious metal and rising prices. Deadly accidents are frequent as artisanal miners often use old-fashion and unregulated methods of digging. Mali's gold production plunged 23% to around 57 metric tons last year of which about 6 tonnes came from artisanal miners.
Daily Mail
25-04-2025
- Daily Mail
Kind Texas Roadhouse staff make dying dog's final dinner a meal to remember
All a Pennsylvania pet owner wanted to do for his dog's last meal was get her a steak dinner and a kind Texas Roadhouse employee make sure it was the best she's ever made. Hunter Metzger was on a mission to give his eight-year-old Great Dane, Iris, a wonderful last day before she was scheduled to be put down. He took her out on car rides and visited family members to give their last goodbyes. Then to round out the perfect last day, they headed to the Ephrata Texas Roadhouse. 'You have to give them a good send off!' Metzger told in a phone interview Friday. 'It's super important.' When he put in the online order to the restaurant, he noted the meal would be his dog's last, thinking it might touch a few hearts, but he never thought the restaurant would go above and beyond for the family. When workers stationed on to-go approached Kate Weston with the order, she knew what she had to do, she told News 4 San Antonio. 'The to-go people know I'm such an animal lover,' she told the outlet. 'They showed me and I was like oh my god, I've got to make this the best steak ever. Employees decorated the back of the receipt, offering their condolences to the Metzger family and Weston wrote 'made with love' on the top of the meal's container. The 120-pound dog ate a platter of rare steak, fries, a roll with cinnamon butter, and mashed potatoes that the Ephrata Texas Roadhouse whipped up for the family. 'She kept trying to get the steak off the plate,' the father-of-one, who has twins boys on the way, told It wasn't the first steak Iris had, it was her favorite meat. Metzger certainly felt the love when he came to pick up the last meal, as employees approached him to say sorry and told him the dinner was 'prepared with love'. 'In that moment, nothing mattered but getting Iris her last meal,' Weston told News 4 San Antonio. Photos showed Iris being presented her meal - on a glass plate, no less - in what appears to be a backyard. The old dog had her tongue out as she eyed her crispy fries and her unseasoned rare steak. She laid down to eat her meal, one strip of steak at a time. The restaurant's kind gesture moved Metzger, who absolutely did not think the employees would show as much love as they did. He took to a local Facebook group to tell his experience, writing: 'I would like to give a shout-out and a big THANK YOU to the Ephrata Texas Roadhouse! 'We laid our sweet pup to rest last night, and for her last meal, we got her a steak dinner from Texas Roadhouse. 'Not only did the restaurant not let us pay for the meal, the wonderful employees took the time to write a note on top of the container and a message on the back of the receipt (and also offered their condolences in person when I picked up the food). 'This kind of customer service and demonstrated compassion sets this Texas Roadhouse team a level above the rest! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!' Weston - who posted a screenshot of the private Facebook group - didn't expect the thank you. 'It's insane,' she told News 4 San Antonio. 'My brother texted me, he's like: "Hey, I just saw your post on some random restaurant group I'm in." I'm like: "What do you mean?"' As for Metzger, the sweet moment provided him a 'bright spot in this tough time.' The family decided to put Iris down after she stop responding to medical treatment for a nasal growth. He remembers his beloved met, who he had since she was eight months old, as always trying to act small and sit on everyone's laps 'She was always trying to sit on people's laps,' he told He also remembered her for the joy she brought his family, especially her three-year-old. 'She loved him as much as he loved her,' the soon-to-be father-of-three said.
The Guardian
04-04-2025
- The Guardian
Iris Newbery obituary
My mother, Iris Newbery, who has died aged 99, was involved in several environmental and conservation projects in Essex and Cambridgeshire. Taking up photography in her 40s, she combined her new skills with a keen interest in wildlife, gradually specialising in butterflies, moths and dragonflies, fungi, lichen and galls. As a member of Loughton Camera Club she won many awards, and achieved the distinction of becoming an LRPS (licentiate of the Royal Photographic Society), then later an ARPS (associate). A founder in the early 1980s of the Essex and Cambridge branch of Butterfly Conservation, she undertook surveys and conservation work and organised field trips for members. Among the group's successes was the restoration of chalk grassland on the Devil's Dyke, an Anglo-Saxon earthwork near Newmarket, where hundreds of chalkhill blue butterflies can now be seen each August. Another of Iris's interests was volunteering at Copped Hall, near Waltham Abbey. The imposing 18th-century mansion, on the edge of Epping Forest, was burned to a shell by a devastating fire in 1917. When in 1993 the Friends of Copped Hall (now the Copped Hall Trust) formed to save the site from development, Iris became one of a small group of volunteers, led by the architect Alan Cox, who cleared rubble and plant growth from the ruin and its extensive grounds and stonework. The project has expanded, with separate teams working on the walled garden and the earlier remains of an Elizabethan mansion on the same site, and has stayed volunteer-run, opening to the public for occasions such as tours, study days, open-air theatre performances, and jazz evenings in the cellars. Iris's photographs form part of the restoration archive, and for many years she produced the members' newsletter. In 2004, working in the walled garden, she was introduced to the then Prince Charles when he visited the mansion and planted a tree in the grounds. Iris was born in West Ham, east London, the eldest of the four children, and the only daughter, of Beatrice (nee Damon) and Percy Cooper. Her father was a railway fireman, later station foreman at Stratford, where he served throughout the second world war. Iris's education was disrupted by the outbreak of war in 1939 and her evacuation to a farm in Dulverton, Somerset, where the local school had only one class, made up of children aged from five to 14. On her return to Dagenham she learned shorthand and typing and took office work in order to make a financial contribution to the family. In 1946, she married Ron Newbery, a Lancaster navigator in Bomber Command, who went on to become a chartered accountant, and they made their home in Epping. After his death in 2015, Iris spent her final years at Richmond Retirement Village in Witney, Oxfordshire, where, during the Covid-19 lockdown, she shared her love of the natural world by sending a daily photograph to other residents. She is survived by two children, Rod and me, and by her brother, Bob.
