Rare Dwarf Hippo Born at the Paris Zoo

Filed in archive Exotic on June 26, 2007

Okay, Okay. I'm probably pushing my luck with this one. But, with the rare albino mountain goat post yesterday, I couldn't resist.

On June 5, a rare dwarf hippopotamus was born at the Paris Zoo. The pygmy hippo resides mainly in West Africa, but this particular hippo was part of a special breeding program to increase the number of hippos. The dwarf hippo is only 21 inches long.

There are no more than 3,000 pgymy hippos worldwide, mostly in West african countries such as Sierra Leone, Guinea Bissau or Liberia, said Juliane Villenain, a biologist at the zoo in the Bois de Vincennes.

Pygmy hippopotamuses are, unlike their much bigger relatives, solitary animals, except during the reproductive season. The female cares for the newborn by herself, as does Aldo's mother Anais, Villenain said.

Since the breeding project started in the early 1990s, 47 males have been born and 66 females. Aldo's older brothers live in Spain and Britain.

Aldo was kept out of the public eye immediately after birth. He will be on view to visitors starting Wednesday.

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