It’s a boy! Last month Mabel, a 4-year-old pygmy hippopotamus at the San Diego Zoo gave birth to her first calf. This is the first successful pygmy hippo birth at the zoo in more than 30 years.
The male pygmy hippo calf was born just before 9 a.m. on Apr. 9, and weighed 12.4 pounds.
The zoo announced the birth on May 15 in recognition of Endangered Species Day. The zoo said, the calf, which has not been named, is meeting and surpassing milestones, including the ability to go underwater.
There are fewer than 2,500 pygmy hippos living in rivers and streams in the forest of West Africa, and their species are threatened by logging, farming and human settlement in their habitat according the the announcement on the zoo’s website.
—Jennifer Swartvagher
Featured photo: iStock
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