It's a girl! Lowry Park Zoo's baby pygmy hippo's gender revealed

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Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo revealed its newest addition - a rare pygmy hippo - is a girl.

The early Christmas delivery came on December first, weighing about nine pounds, but its gender had not yet been announced, until Thursday.

The zoo held a little party, complete with a display containing two wrapped gift boxes - one pink and one blue - to help zoo staff build anticipation. 

The little baby is now three weeks old and is about the size of a watermelon, zoo staff said before making the announcement.

When zoo staff was ready, they pressed a button that lit the trees around the habitat pink.

Since its birth, the little hippo has ventured out into its habitat and taking its first swim.

This is the fourth baby hippo for mom, Zsa Zsa, and the fourth pygmy hippo birth at the zoo.

There are only about 3,000 pygmy hippos left in the wild, so the zoo is working with other zoos nationwide to help preserve the species as part of the Species Survival Program. There are only about 32 pygmy hippos in the program altogether.

"They're born to swim," said Chris Massaro, curator at Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo.