Berlin’s newest pygmy hippo makes her debut, with a name inspired by a soccer star

BERLIN (AP) — The Berlin Zoo’s newest baby pygmy hippo made her public debut on Thursday, a day after her name — Toni, inspired by German soccer star Antonio Rüdiger — was chosen from more than 20,000 suggestions.

Toni was born on June 3. She’s still not much bigger than a small dog but delighted zoo visitors as she explored her enclosure alongside her mother, Debbie.

The zoo sought suggestions for the baby’s name and sifted through the thousands of names over recent weeks. Zoo director Andreas Knieriem said he initially leaned toward traditional Berlin names like Boulettchen — which translates to “little meatball” — but the little hippo’s popularity on social media and the many name proposals suggested that she would become “a real world star.”

“We wanted to take account of this development with a short, concise name that also works well outside Berlin,” he said in a statement Wednesday. Rüdiger, a Berlin native who plays for Real Madrid and Germany, agreed to become the animal’s honorary patron — or, as the zoo put it, “coach” — sealing the deal for “Toni.”

Debbie reared previous offspring in 2004, 2007 and 2008. The zoo has succeeded in breeding the species since 1921, which it says was the first time it occurred in Europe.

Pygmy hippopotamuses are an endangered species and fewer than 2,500 adults remain in Ivory Coast, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the zoo said. They are already extinct in Nigeria and face a major loss of habitat as West African forests are cleared for mining and agricultural use, it added.