Everyone’s Losing It Over This Baby Hippo’s Perfect ‘No Bones Day’ originally appeared on PetHelpful.

There’s no such thing as an ordinary day at Tanganyika Wildlife Park in Goddard, Kansas. With dozens of animals to care for and thousands of guests to entertain, these dedicated zookeepers and animal caretakers are always busy—especially since their spicy new addition was born.

Mars is a 6-week-old pygmy hippo who’s been keeping his handlers and his mama, Posie, on their toes ever since he was born on June 26. Since then, he’s gained nearly 40 pounds and has developed a larger than life personality.

His latest escapades on August 13 had even his handlers cracking a smile. It doesn’t get much cuter than this stubborn baby hippo on his ‘no bones day,’ even if his hard-headed personality makes everyone’s jobs harder than they need to be.

What an icon! Mars knows what he wants and doesn’t want, and he’s not afraid to make it happen. Whether that means refusing to go inside or turning into dead weight when his handler tries to pick him up, he’ll stop at nothing to live his very best life.

“Mars is clearly having a no bones day, and I respect that,” one viewer commented. He couldn’t be bothered to stand up and walk himself inside! When a baby animal like Mars is comfy, it can take drastic measures to coax them out of their spot.

The Tanganyika Wildlife Park’s handlers know that tricks and bribes don’t work on this feisty baby, so they just go straight to more direct methods of moving him. Otherwise, they’d be there all night! Thankfully, this method works well for now, but it’s only a matter of time until Mars is too big to be carried around the enclosure.

Pygmy Hippos

Even though Mars still has some growing to do, he’ll be smaller than most hippos when fully grown. That’s because he’s a pygmy hippopotamus, which means he’ll only weigh about a quarter as much as his standard-sized hippo cousins.

Don’t be fooled, though; Mars is going to be huge when fully grown. Pygmy hippos weigh between 400 and 600 pounds, which means that Mars couldn’t be more than a tenth of the way to his final weight yet. There are plenty more adventures from this adorable baby hippo to come!

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Everyone’s Losing It Over This Baby Hippo’s Perfect ‘No Bones Day’ first appeared on PetHelpful on Aug 17, 2025

This story was originally reported by PetHelpful on Aug 17, 2025, where it first appeared.