Zoo's baby hippo gets name, romps with mother

The San Diego Zoo has named a new river hippo calf, Ahmale (ah-MA'-shay), which means "beautiful one" in Zulu. The baby was born on February 8 and now weighs an estimated 100 pounds (about 45 kilograms) and is active and healthy.

She is the 13th calf of her mother, Funani, who also lives at the San Diego Zoo.

She was given the name in a national contest, with the name announced on national TV Friday.

"It's my hope that everyone has had a chance really get to know Amahle early in her life and that they'll follow her and want to learn more about river hippos and want to do more for river hippos in their native habitat in Africa," said Jennifer Chapman, a wildfire care specialist at the San Diego Zoo.

River hippos are from sub-Saharan Africa and are threatened by illegal hunting, according to the San Diego Zoo.

(Picture Credit: representative image/pixabay)