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Pygmy Hippos Found in Liberia

Rare mammal not wiped out by wars, deforestation

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Mar 10, 2008 10:27 AM CDT
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(Newser) – Rare pygmy hippos have been videotaped in the forests of Liberia, proving to a team of zoologists that the rare and elusive mammal has survived through two civil wars, illegal logging, and poaching thought to have wiped it out. Less than 3,000 pygmy hippos, which look like normal hippos only smaller, still live in their natural habitat, the BBC reports.

Despite the find, the zoologist team is still worried about the little critters. Bush hunters still stalk them, and deforestation is a major problem; just 10% of their original forest is left. But even so, the secretive creatures usually find places to hide. They are rarely seen, and managed to evade hordes of hungry people displaced in Liberia’s wars.

Zoo keeper Paul Kybett cleans Nicky the Pygmy hippopotamuses' teeth with a new giant (5ft) toothbrush at London Zoo on July 20, 2006 in London England. (Photo by Claire Greenway/Getty Images)
Zoo keeper Paul Kybett cleans Nicky the Pygmy hippopotamuses' teeth with a new giant (5ft) toothbrush at London Zoo on July 20, 2006 in London England. (Photo by Claire Greenway/Getty Images)   (Getty Images)
A two-month old Pygmy Hippo, born at the Pretoria Zoo, pictured with its mother 04 April 2006. Around 4,000 Pygmy Hippos live in the world, mostly in West Africa where they have been endangered by wars and human habitat. AFP PHOTO / FATI MOALUSI
A two-month old Pygmy Hippo, born at the Pretoria Zoo, pictured with its mother 04 April 2006. Around 4,000 Pygmy Hippos live in the world, mostly in West Africa where they have been endangered by wars...   (Getty Images)
Anais keeps an eye on her son Aldo, a 3-week-old pygmy hippopotamus, at the Vincennes zoo, outside Paris, Tuesday, June 26, 2007. Aldo looks, eats, and lazes about like a hippopotamus but he is only about as big as a human baby, at 21 inches. This pygmy hippopotamus, born earlier...
Anais keeps an eye on her son Aldo, a 3-week-old pygmy hippopotamus, at the Vincennes zoo, outside Paris, Tuesday, June 26, 2007. Aldo looks, eats, and lazes about like a hippopotamus but he is only...   (Associated Press)
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Facts about the pygmy hippo
Smithsonian National Zoological Park

After civil war, Sierra Leone a nice place to visit
Guardian (UK)

World • Green

 
endangered species • civil war • wildlife • Liberia • Zoological Society of London • pygmy hippos • zoologists • bush hunters • hippopotamus

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