Dallas Zoo Welcomes 'Much-Anticipated' Baby Hippo: 'We Are Thrilled'

Hippo, hippo, hooray! The Dallas Zoo just welcomed a healthy new hippopotamus!

The baby hippo was born around 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 30 to mother Boipelo, CBS Dallas/Fort Worth reported. The sex of the calf has yet to be determined.

After two and half hours of labor — a length the Texas zoo said is "average" for a hippo birth — Boipelo gave birth to the calf underwater, which is also typical for the mammal.

RELATED: Dallas Zoo's Hippo Mom Is Ready For You to Meet Her Curious, Water-Loving Baby

Boipelo started showing signs of labor early in the afternoon on Oct. 30. The Dallas Zoo, which had been monitoring the mother hippo closely for weeks, was prepared for the birth, CBSDFW reported. The outlet added that the delivery was private — monitored by a camera — and that the calf was delivered "smoothly."

Dallas Zoo

"We are thrilled to announce the arrival of a much-anticipated baby hippopotamus to your Dallas Zoo family!" the zoo wrote in a tweet.

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Dallas Zoo

The social media post also included birth footage and a clip of the wrinkly pink-and-gray calf splashing around with its mother. According to the Dallas Zoo, the newborn began nursing "within an hour" of its birth.

"Both are doing well and have been bonding behind the scenes," the tweet said of Boipelo and her new calf.

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Boipelo currently lives in a habitat with her female child Adanna, who turned 3 in May. The new baby will debut in habitat in "several weeks," per CBSDFW.

Dallas Zoo will continue to share updates about the unnamed calf on social media.