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Baby hippo defies zookeepers, refuses to get out of pool – until mom gives him one look
A video of a baby hippo refusing to get out of the pool is melting hearts on social media.
In a moment that has melted hearts across the internet, a baby pygmy hippo named Mars refused to get out of a pond at Tanganyika Wildlife Park in Kansas – until his mother stepped in with a look that needed no words.
A now-viral video shared by the zoo on TikTok shows caretakers gently trying to coax Mars out of the water. Despite repeated attempts and plenty of encouragement, the playful calf wasn’t having it. It wasn’t until his mom arrived and gave him what zookeepers jokingly called "the mom stare" that Mars suddenly changed his mind and began to cooperate.
The humorous standoff quickly went viral, with nearly 35 million views on TikTok and even more attention across platforms like X (formerly Twitter), where users couldn’t help but relate.
The video was reposted from TikTok on X by the account @AMAZlNGNATURE, which summed it up perfectly: “The ‘mom stare’ is universal in every species”. Watch the video below:
‘The mom stare’ transcends species
Viewers called the video both hilarious and heartwarming, with many saying it perfectly captures the universal power of the “mom stare” across species.
“That stare that says ‘I brought you into this world and I can take you out’ — even in the animal kingdom,” one user commented on X.
Another said: “Reminds me of my childhood.”
Others joked that the "mom stare is “well known, but not used enough these days. At least not in the human species.”
More about Mars the baby hippo
Mars was born in June at Tanganyika Wildlife Park and is already charming both guests and staff with his spirited personality. He is the fifth calf born to pygmy hippos Posie and Pluto, a breeding pair who arrived at the park in 2014.
“There were only three pygmy hippos born here in the United States, and so every baby is really important, and males, especially right now, are underrepresented in our population,” LynnLee Schidt, integrator at the park, told KWCH.
Mars has been described as healthy, playful – and an expert napper. His birth is part of a broader conservation effort by Tanganyika, the only zoo in Kansas actively working to protect the endangered species. Fewer than 3,000 pygmy hippos are estimated to remain in the wild, due to habitat loss and poaching.
