Move over, Pumba — there’s a cooler, younger warthog in town. Her name is Tikiti, she’s one of the newest members of the Dallas Zoo, and she’s absolutely adorable.
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Baby Tikiti was born on Feb. 17 to proud parents Toby and Weela. She looked a bit like a melon when she was born, the Zoo tweeted, so staffers named her Tikiti. That’s Swahili for “watermelon.”
In photos the Dallas Zoo tweeted shortly after her birth, Tikiti does indeed appear to be the size of a large watermelon, though we think she’s much cuter. She also looks like she’s getting a head start on perfecting her side-eye game.
BABY PIGLET ALERT: Meet Tikiti, the newest addition to our warthog family. Born on February 17, to mom Weela, and dad Toby, this little ball of cuteness is stealing our hearts! pic.twitter.com/qztHN2qOXk
— Dallas Zoo (@DallasZoo) March 20, 2023
Tikiti wasn’t quite as playful as staff members expected her to be right off the bat, so they started monitoring her closely and providing round-the-clock attention to make sure she was okay.
In the wild, warthogs are native to Sub-Saharan Africa, where they enjoy a primarily vegetarian diet of grass, roots, and seeds. At the Dallas Zoo, you can try to spot Tikiti, Weela, and Toby at the Giants of the Savanna exhibit.
The Dallas Zoo is also celebrating what appears to be a scientific first: twin perentie monitor lizards hatched from the same egg this week. That’s never been recorded in this species before, the zoo tweeted Tuesday. The twins join five other perentie monitor babies, which you can spot in an up-close video the zoo shared to celebrate their birthday.
In other cute animal news this week, the National Zoo in Washington D.C. has announced they’re expecting a baby gorilla.
