Tacha dips her face in front of Storm and begins to blow bubbles through the water, a hippo flirtation. “She’s signaling to Storm that she wants to mate with him,” whispers Paolillo.

The arrival of the female hippo will mark the next chapter in Tootsie's journey to fatherhood. In February 2023, Wildlife World Zoo celebrated the birth of Bubbles, the first pygmy hippo born in ...