A female Pygmy Hippo was born last week at Zoo Miami.  Her mother is 18 year old “Kelsey,” who was born at the Baton Rouge Zoo and arrived at Zoo Miami in May of 1993. This is her first baby.  The father is 11 year old “Pogo” who was born in the Toronto Zoo and arrived at Zoo Miami in June of 2009. Pygmy hippos are extremely rare and are found in isolated pockets of West Africa, mainly in Liberia, with only a few thousand remaining in the wild.  They are substantially smaller than the more common river hippos, usually weighing between 500 and 700 pounds as opposed to the river hippos which can weigh close to 8,000 pounds.

Photo credits: Ron Magill taken at Zoo Miami