The first medical examination has not taken place yet because of the mother protects its calf very much, although the app. 5-6 kg tiny calf is apparently in good health. This has been the second time in Sosto Zoo for having such a species to be born. The baby hippo’s sister was born in 2011, who grew quarter kilogramms a day at that time, based on the records. So we expect similar results this case also.
Broutille, is the 16-year-old mother is very careful in this case, too, she breastfeeds 4-5 times a day him, who was born after 190 days of pregnancy. He is going going to start eating solid food at the age of 2-4 months, which contains hay, vegetables and fruit pastes.
While its relatives the Hippopotamus, were known since the ancient times, the Pygmy hippopotamus is one of the latest discovered large mammal species of the late 19th century. The reason is that their hidden lifestyle, as they are shy animals and they live in the deep West African rain forest where white man hardly appear.
Unlikely the Pygmy hippopotamus is on the edge of extinction, it is a rare thick-skinned, five times heavier than the 1.5 tons Hippopotamus and indigenous only at a very small area. About two or three thousand individuals live free, it is mostly endangered by the forest devastation, loss of habitat and hunting. There are less than 300 hundred individuals in zoos all over the world and from them approximately there are 140 individuals in Europe.
Sosto Zoo keeps this endangered species based on the international endangered species programme. Currently, the father, who arrived from Denmark, the mother, who is French, their 4 years old daughter and 2 days old baby live at our zoo. We were not able to determine the sex of the newborn, but we're excited about the result, as according to the statistics a lot more females born than male ones, so in this exceptional case, we would be happier with a male.
