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Tuesday, 23 April 2024

Meet Bernardina, Chile's baby pygmy hippo

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Meet Bernardina, Chile's baby pygmy hippo
Meet Bernardina, Chile's baby pygmy hippo

Chile's Buin Zoo is celebrating the recent birth of a rare pygmy hippopotamus, as part of its breeding program for the endangered species.

According to zookeepers, Bernardina is in good health and is under the watchful gaze of her mother Coco.

An adult pygmy hippopotamus, smaller cousins of the hippopotamus, typically reaches around 70-80 cm (27-31 inches) tall and weighs around 250 kg (551 pounds), about a quarter of the size of a full-sized hippo, the Pygmy Hippo Foundation has said.

Pygmy hippos are native to West Africa, with most thought to be in Liberia and a smaller number in Sierra Leone, Guinea and the Ivory Coast, according to the Pygmy Hippo Foundation.

There are only around 2,500 Pygmy Hippopotamus left in the world, with a dwindling natural habitat and hunting their greatest threats to survival.

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