It looks like production at the viral baby pygmy hippo factory is at an all-time high, with the Metro Richmond Zoo in Moseley, Va., announcing the birth of a healthy female hippo to parents Iris and Corwin this month.

The gloriously moist critter is the same species as worldwide superstars Moo Deng from Thailand and Haggis from Scotland (though pygmy hippopotamuses are native to forests and swamps in West Africa). At least one other baby pygmy hippo made a public appearance to fanfare this year — Toni, in Germany.

The American member of this squad will have her name decided in an online poll held by the Metro Richmond Zoo.

Voting is open until 2 p.m. Tuesday, with the winning name announced on New Year’s Day. The name options are Poppy, Juniper, Hammie Mae and Omi.

Voters will have to choose carefully and cement her place as an icon next to her peers.

Moo Deng was one of the internet’s biggest celebrities in 2024, known for her rotund figure and fiery personality. She was plastered across social media feeds, parodied on SNL, and faced the pitfalls of fame when visitors had their viewing privileges restricted for throwing items into her enclosure. When Haggis came onto the scene in Edinburgh, she was subjected to headlines pitting her against her ham-like sister.

This new boom of squishy babies marks important ecological progress for pygmy hippos, which are an endangered species, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

An estimated 2,000 remain in the world, mainly in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and the Ivory Coast, due to habitat loss and being hunted for bushmeat, according to the Pygmy Hippo Foundation.

So the latest baby is not just a new source of joy for us to fawn over online. NPR’s Jaclyn Diaz spoke to Jonny Appleyard, hoofstock team leader at Edinburgh Zoo back in November, about how crucial each new birth is. “It is important to remember that pygmy hippos are incredibly rare,” Appleyard said, adding that having little ambassadors to connect with visitors can “help raise awareness of the challenges the species face in the wild.”

In short: Keep those slick little babies coming!

LONDON — Olivia Hussey, the actor who starred as a teenage Juliet in the 1968 film “Romeo and Juliet,” has died, her family said on social media Saturday. She was 73.

Hussey died on Friday, “peacefully at home surrounded by her loved ones,” a statement posted to her Instagram account said.

Hussey was 15 when director Franco Zeffirelli cast her in his adaptation of the William Shakespeare tragedy after spotting her onstage in the play “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie,” which also starred Vanessa Redgrave.

“Romeo and Juliet” won two Oscars and Hussey won a Golden Globe for best new actress for her part as Juliet, opposite British actor Leonard Whiting, who was 16 at the time.

Decades later Hussey and Whiting brought a lawsuit against Paramount Pictures alleging sexual abuse, sexual harassment and fraud over nude scenes in the film.

They alleged that they were initially told they would wear flesh-colored undergarments in a bedroom scene, but on the day of the shoot Zeffirelli told the pair they would wear only body makeup and that the camera would be positioned in a way that would not show nudity. They alleged they were filmed in the nude without their knowledge.

The case was dismissed by a Los Angeles County judge in 2023, who found their depiction could not be considered child pornography and the pair filed their claim too late.

Whiting was among those paying tribute to Hussey on Saturday. “Rest now my beautiful Juliet no injustices can hurt you now. And the world will remember your beauty inside and out forever,” he wrote.

Hussey was born on April 17, 1951, in Bueno Aires, Argentina, and moved to London as a child. She studied at the Italia Conti Academy drama school.

She also starred as Mary, the mother of Jesus, in the 1977 television series “Jesus of Nazareth,” as well as the 1978 adaptation of Agatha Christie’s “Death on the Nile” and horror movies “Black Christmas” and “Psycho IV: The Beginning.”

She is survived by her husband, David Glen Eisley, her three children and a grandson.