Is John Ball Zoo's pygmy hippo calf a boy or a girl?

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — John Ball Zoo has revealed the gender of the pygmy hippo calf that was born last week: It's a boy!

The gender reveal ceremony — which drew an in-person crowd and streamed live on the zoo's Facebook page — involved the calf's father, Jahari, and one of his favorite foods.

"We wanted to make it fun, both for us and for Jahari," Jaime Racalla, animal care supervisor at John Ball Zoo, said. "He does love watermelon."

So the team carved out a watermelon and put blue Jell-O and blueberries inside.

"And then we let (Jahari) squash that," Racalla continued.

It's an exciting moment for the zoo, according to the animal care supervisor. Pygmy hippos are an endangered species, which makes each birth important.

"It means a lot to the population, because there's a lot