Meet the pygmy hippo

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

The pygmy hippopotamus (also called the Liberian, lat. Hexaprotodon liberiensis) belongs to the hippopotamus family. Native places - Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone. If for us the pygmy hippopotamus (see photo in the article) is still a curiosity, then in those places it is an object of hunting. It is for this reason that the animal is on the verge of extinction.

Description

A mammal is a herbivore. The lifestyle is semi-aquatic. In comparison with their closest (and only) relatives - common hippos - these animals do not stray into packs, preferring solitude, and are not inclined to protect the developed territory.

Pygmy hippopotamus - a pygmy with a relatively small weight (250 kg on average) and not very impressive size (up to 2 m in length and 0.7 m at the withers). This is the height of the Great Dane, a giant in the dog world. But if the latter is the personification of beauty and harmony, then the pygmy hippopotamus appears as a funny elongated blackbarrel on legs. His skin is almost black (or dark brown) and shiny, as if greased. In fact, such a gloss gives a secret secreted by the skin glands (natural protection against drying out of the integument).

The first mention of this funny animal appeared at the end of the 17th century in the book of Olfert Dapper, which tells about travels in Africa. It was about a big and black pig with big teeth, destroying everything in its path.

Research History

All this time, frightening stories have reached the civilized world from the Liberians themselves. Allegedly, a very dangerous "ningbwe" lives in the jungle. And there, according to rumors, lives a pygmy rhinoceros similar to it. Strange bones caused bewilderment among scientists - the shape of the remains could belong to a hippopotamus, but what about the size? Zoologists agreed on a common opinion: the bones belong to an extinct hippopotamus. The remains were under the glass of the paleontological museum.

However, Samuel Morton, who at that time was vice president of the Philadelphia Academy of Sciences and was at the same time a naturalist, doctor and just a great animal lover, said in absentia: an animal is a middle link between a pig and a hippopotamus. A dispute began that could have lasted indefinitely, until a live pygmy hippopotamus was delivered to the zoo! True, he, unable to withstand the hard road, soon died.

Johann Buttikofer (a zoologist from Sweden) goes to Liberia in search of a strange animal. It is thanks to his research that we have today'sanimal data. Almost nothing has been added to the scarce information since that time. Studying the animal in its homeland proved inconvenient. Only in recent years has it begun to occasionally appear in zoos.

Captivity

Is it possible to keep a pygmy hippopotamus at home? Yes. However, in addition to creating special conditions, constant vigilance will also be required: the pygmy hippopotamus is not naturally aggressive, but it is extremely unbalanced. It can lunge, knock down and inflict serious injury with its twenty centimeter fangs. The legs of the animal are short, the head is relatively small, with small ears and small eyes. But the hippo has large nostrils - thanks to them, he breathes freely while in the water. All his modest attire consists of tufts of coarse hair on a short ponytail, ears and lips.

The pygmy hippo has learned to live and even breed in captivity, but the population is still low. Pregnancy lasts seven months, the newborn cub weighs about 7 kg and looks like a piglet. The female gives birth on land (the common hippopotamus - in the water, at the bottom).

The dwarf hippo is not very sociable and leads a rather secretive lifestyle. Active only in the dark.

How much can a pygmy hippopotamus cost? The price of this animal is not advertised anywhere. The fact is that the dwarf hippopotamus is listed in the Red Book, and therefore its sale is prohibited.