Hip, Hippo, Hooray!

Adorable rare pygmy hippopotamus takes first steps into the world after birth

Encouraged by a comforting nuzzle from her mother, this newborn hippopotamus takes her first steps into the big wide world.

The adorable looking creature, a rare pygmy hippo, was born just moments earlier in Tampa, America, at the Lowry Park Zoo. At first struggling to get out of the water and onto a step, the tiny animal appears tentative before finding her stride and getting her first feel of the Florida sunshine.

It was mother Zsa Zsa’s second birth and only the second in the zoo’s history.

The first was in 2008 and Dr Larry Killmar, vice president of the zoo’s animal science and conservation department, said the new arrival was a significant boost for the managed hippo population in America, which now stands at 55.

Dr Killmar said: ‘The birth of this rare and endangered nocturnal forest species marks only the 55th individual in the managed population within North American and underlines the importance of our conservation efforts.

‘With only 3,000 pygmy hippos in the wild, each birth is vital if we have any hope of saving this truly unique species.’

Pygmy hippos have dwindled in number due to the loss of their habitat, with the African forests in which they naturally live being torn down at an alarming rate.

They are also known to be targeted by bush hunters, who prize their high quality meat, but the animals are protected in some areas of Africa, including the Gola Forest Reserve in Sierra Leone.

Between 1970 and 1991 the population of pygmy hippos born in captivity more than doubled and experts increasingly believe their survival is dependent on ongoing zoo breeding programmes.