What a hippopota-mess.
A Texas couple is taking heat after for enlisting a hippo in their future child’s gender reveal party — but the zoo says the animal “enjoyed it as much as anyone else.”
Jonathan and Bridgette Joseph went viral on Saturday after they threw a gender reveal party at the Capital of Texas Zoo in Cedar Creek.
Footage initially posted to the video platform TikTok showed the expectant father hurling a watermelon into the mouth of a Nile hippo named Tank.
As Tank chomped on the treat, blue Jell-O exploded from the watermelon, indicating the couple was having a boy.
“Yes! Yes! Thank God,” Jonathan said as others cheered the news.
The unusual gender reveal party, however, wasn’t as well-received on Twitter, where a video of the celebrations was posted.
“I did it. I found the worst gender reveal,” said Ana Bretón, who shared the footage on Saturday.
Bretón implored others to donate to a Pygmy Hippo Foundation as Twitter users slammed the couple for feeding the hippo food dye.
“That person’s baby is not remotely important enough to feed a hippo 10 pounds of food coloring,”wrote one user.
But the zoo said the gender reveal wasn’t a rogue incident — and they helped the expectant parents safely organize the celebration.
Zoo director Michael Hicks said one of the workers often gives Tank watermelons with different flavors of Jell-O inside as a treat.