Located in Goddard, Kansas, the Tanganyika Wildlife Park is home to an internet-famous baby pygmy hippo named Mars, and his parents, Posie and Pluto. Mars became a star because of his feisty playfulness and very stubborn personality; it’s clear who runs the show, and it’s not his caretakers!

We’ve seen lots of adorable videos of Mars and his mama, Posie. But we never see him interact with his dad, Pluto. Viewers wondered why, so Tanganyika shared a video of one of the hippos’ caretakers explaining not only why, but where Mars’ dad is.

Since pygmy hippos live a solitary lifestyle, there would be no reason for Mars to interact with his dad. Posie has her hands full with Mars, and so do his caretakers. We love watching them interact, but it sounds like putting Mars and Pluto together is not a good idea!

Related: Baby Pygmy Hippo Adorably Tries to ‘Hide’ in Pool to Avoid Having to Go Inside

Hilarious Reactions to Why Baby Mars Can’t Meet His Dad

While reading through viewers’ comments, some of them made us laugh out loud. @PandaConnoisseur deadpanned, ‘So, what you’re saying is that Mars acts out because his parents are divorced.”

Commenter @Angie B asked, “So he’s a deadbeat dad? Is that what you’re saying? Absentee father?” @YouGotOneofThemFaces replied, “Well, hippo dads will commit infanticide if they are allowed around their young, especially if they are males. Sooo… yup!! Def a deadbeat, LOL!”

Others had questions about the hippos’ names, like @a.k who said, “Pluto and Mars?!! Why’s momma a Posie? Shouldn’t she be Venus? LOL!” @RealMsRaisa said what we were all thinking, “We need to see this Pluto ma’am.” @Jesse joked, “So what you’re saying is that Sierra is daddy?”, in reference to Mars’ caretaker, who has to chase him down every night to get him to go back inside.

Pygmy hippos are solitary animals, though it isn’t unheard of to find a male and female living together during mating season. Males are also territorial and very aggressive; they will fight other males who enter their domain. Eventually, Pluto will view Mars as competition for the ladies, so they will never be together in the same enclosure.

Another commenter asked how long Mars will stay with Posie. Tanganyika actually shared the answer in a recent Facebook post, “Pygmy hippo babies stay with their moms for the first 6–8 months, learning essential skills like walking in water, finding food, and staying safe.” Google shared that pygmy hippo calves typically stay with their mothers for several months to up to three years. Mars is only 2 months old right now, so he still has a way to go before he has to be separated from his mama!

This story was originally reported by PetHelpful on Sep 6, 2025, where it first appeared in the Pet News section. Add PetHelpful as a Preferred Source by clicking here.