Travis Kelce Becomes a 'Parent' to an Adorable Pennsylvania Zoo Resident

NEED TO KNOW

• Travis Kelce was surprised with a giant river otter from the Philadelphia Zoo adopted in his name
• The moment happened during his Feb. 6 appearance on Kylie Kelce’s podcast Not Gonna Lie
• The football star reacted with delight and joked about babysitting the otter

Travis Kelce added a new title to his résumé this week — zoo parent!

The Kansas City Chiefs tight end, 36, appeared as a guest on Not Gonna Lie with Kylie Kelce, the podcast hosted by his sister-in-law, Kylie Kelce, 33, and was surprised to learn that a giant river otter at the Philadelphia Zoo had been symbolically adopted in his name.

The episode was released Friday, Feb. 6, just days before Super Bowl 2026 weekend, marking the first time in three years that neither Travis nor his brother, Kylie's husband, Jason, 38, who plays for the Philadelphia Eagles, will be playing in The Big Game.

During a lighthearted conversation about animals and internet culture, Kylie and her co-hosts revealed the surprise while discussing otters — a species Travis admitted he's long dreamed of encountering in the wild.

"Every time I go past some sort of creek or river, in my mind, there's an otter standing up on a rock waving to me," Travis said on the podcast. "I've had dreams like this. This is crazy. It's just, like, I just know they're the friendliest."

That dream quickly became a reality — sort of.

"As a special surprise from us here at NGL," Kylie told him, "we actually adopted a giant river otter at the Philadelphia Zoo in your name." The adoption was completed using Kelce's family nickname, "Uncle Trav," a detail that immediately delighted the NFL star.

"First of all, big zoo guy," Kelce responded. "Uncle Trav, this is amazing."

In a statement to PEOPLE, Maggie Morse, senior director of animal care at the Philadelphia Zoo, shared that the zoo is happy to be a "proud supporter of funcles like Uncle Trav and Robert Irwin."

"As a new Zoo Parent, we invite Uncle Trav to come and meet our giant river otter family whenever he needs a break from babysitting the nieces," added Morse, and joked, "We just ask he leaves [Taylor Swift's] sourdough at home, unless it's for our staff. Otters prefer fish!"

Kylie, who tied the knot with Jason in April 2018, joked that the otters may not be quite the “cute fuzzy” animals he imagined, as giant river otters are known for being loud, energetic and significantly larger than their sea-dwelling counterparts. Of course, Uncle Trav was still entirely on board.

“Uncle Trav, can’t wait to meet you, dude,” the proud new zoo parent added, addressing the otter directly.

The moment highlighted Kelce’s longtime love of animals and playful personality. As one of the NFL’s most recognizable stars, Travis has built a Hall-of-Fame-caliber career with the Chiefs, winning multiple Super Bowls and becoming one of the league’s most dominant tight ends.

With football's biggest game premiering on Sunday, Feb. 8, the surprise added a dose of levity to an already busy week — and gave Travis yet another reason to visit Philadelphia.

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As Kylie joked, babysitting privileges for her and Jason's daughters Finnley, 10 months, Bennett, 2, Elliotte, 4, and Wyatt, 6, may be limited. Travis, however, seemed undeterred.

"I wonder how long the zoo would let me babysit him," he said, before joking about showing up with sardines and calling it a day.

Read the original article on People