14 DAY TRIAL // Just a few weeks ago, in early June, a baby pygmy hippo was born at Melbourne Zoo in Australia. The miniature hippopotamus, born to a female named Petre, weighed merely 11 pounds (5 kilograms) at delivery.
Since then, however, it has put on weight at a rate of about 1 pound (0.5 kilograms) per day. Even so, it's still adorably small, at least when compared to its mom.
Earlier this month, young Obi, whose name translates as “heart” in a Nigerian language, went for its first swim with mother Petre. Zoo staff kept a close eye on the family the entire time and even filmed them splashing around.
The video, which you can watch below, might just be the hearty dose of cuteness you've been craving since you woke up this morning and realized a new workweek was upon you.
“Obi, our little baby Pygmy Hippo ventured out with mum, Petre, for a swim in the big pool for the first time,” the baby hippo's caretakers write in the video's description.
“The name Obi means heart in the Nigerian Igbo language, and he is certainly melting a few hearts here at Melbourne Zoo :),” they add.
These days, the International Union for Conservation of Nature considers pygmy hippos an endangered species. The animals are native to West Africa, where they populate forests and swamps.
