Spotlight on: Pygmy Hippo

Not long ago, a young pygmy hippo named Moo Deng went viral on social media, thrusting these forest-dwelling pachyderms into the spotlight. It makes sense—pygmy hippos are cute and personable, with their large faces, round eyes, and plump and shiny skin. They are also endangered, and their newfound popularity highlights the need for conservation action around the globe.

Two pygmy hippos call Lincoln Park Zoo home. Here’s what you should know about these smaller cousins of the common hippo!

Handsome Hippos

Pygmy hippos look as though they could be younger versions of common hippos, but in truth, they represent a different genus and species. Their feet are less webbed than those of their larger counterparts, and their mouth and teeth are also different. While common hippos have two or three sets of incisors (front teeth), pygmy hippos have only one. The most noticeable difference, though, is in their sizes—pygmy hippos can range from 350–600 pounds in size, which is 10 times less than what a common hippo weighs. Pygmy hippos also spend a lot more time on land.

Pygmy hippos have gray skin and secrete a fluid that’s called “blood sweat,” even though it’s neither bloody nor sweaty. It acts as sunscreen, bug repellent, and antiseptic, protecting the thin skin of these animals that can easily get dehydrated. Pymgy hippos actually do not swim. Their bodies are too dense to float, so they stick to shallow waters and push off from the ground to walk underwater. However, they can run up to 18 mph on land.

These denizens of West African forests are secretive and solitary, except when they have young with them. They are most active between late afternoon and midnight. Pygmy hippos are also relatively quiet creatures, preferring to communicate through body language rather than vocalizations (although this is not always true of the pygmy hippos at Lincoln Park Zoo—see below!). In their native habitats, they often hide in swampy areas and travel through paths that they mark with dung.

Images courtesy of Curator of Large Mammals and Carnivores Cassy Kutilek

Baby pygmy hippos can be playful and sassy, as everyone on TikTok has recently come to know. In the wild, infants are born on land, usually between November and January, then are hidden in shallow pools for up to five months. The young are weaned at six to eight months and reach maturity between three to five years after they are born.

Challenges for Hippo Conservation

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Red List says that the population size of pygmy hippos is unknown, but it is widely believed to be declining. According to some estimates, less than 2,500 individuals may still roam across West Africa.

Because they prefer lowland forests near bodies of water, the biggest danger they face is deforestation for agricultural and mining purposes, including palm oil production. The cultivation of palm oil is an issue for many species, as unsustainable palm oil production leads to the destruction of millions of acres of forest around the world annually. There’s currently no good substitute for palm oil, which is found in 50% of the items we buy in grocery stores.

However, some pygmy hippos are also hunted for bushmeat. And some populations have also experienced problems in the past because of political conflicts in places like Sierra Leone, Cote d’Ivoire, and Liberia.

Lincoln Park Zoo works with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Pygmy Hippopotamus Species Survival Plan® to manage individuals in AZA institutions. Staff also collect data on them using the ZooMonitor app so caretakers can identify which spaces they prefer and the behaviors they engage in. Additionally, the zoo has collected their skin secretions and feces to evaluate their hormones. Because pygmy hippos are so secretive in the wild, gathering this type of information adds to the body of knowledge about their physical and hormonal aspects, which benefits all who care for them.

Images courtesy of Curator of Large Mammals and Carnivores Cassy Kutilek

Curator of Large Mammals and Carnivores Cassy Kutilek says, “We are quite fortunate to have two of these amazing animals here at Lincoln Park Zoo and are excited about the extra publicity that they are getting to help shine a light on what conservation is needed to help pygmy hippos in the wild.”

Pygmy Hippos at Lincoln Park Zoo

You can two find pygmy hippos at Regenstein African Journey. Here at the zoo, their diets consist of nutrition-packed herbivore pellets, leafy and starchy vegetables, and grass hay. Carrots are a favorite with both!

As with all animals in the zoo’s care, they also receive enrichment of various kinds that helps them act in natural, species-specific ways. “Because they tend to eat along swampy embankments in the wild, submerging browse of leafy tree branches into their pool mimics that behavior, and they will spend hours plucking leaves off the branches,” Kutilek says.

Pogo: The male pygmy hippo was born September 2, 1999, and is 25 years old. He arrived from ZooTampa at Lowry Park in fall 2021. Kutilek calls him a “gentleman” when it comes to initiating the mating process. You can sometimes hear Pogo calling for Annie when she is in estrous. When engaging with his care team, he is calm and has what Kutilek calls an “interested and stoic manner.”

Annie: The female hippo is 16 years old with a birthday on August 26, 2008. She came to Chicago from ZooTampa in 2011. You can distinguish her from Pogo visually because she has a small divot on her right hip. Kutilek describes her as “more excitable and prone to fits of the zoomies.”

Images courtesy of Curator of Large Mammals and Carnivores Cassy Kutilek

Because they are solitary and come together only to breed, Pogo and Annie have access to the habitat at different times. If you don’t see them at all, it might because they are using their secluded area outside of guest view where they can choose to be instead. Or it could be because Annie is in estrous, which happens every 30-40 days.

Care staff “howdies” them visually every morning to gauge breeding interest. If they are enamored with each other, they’ll be introduced in the back holding pools. If not, one goes on habitat, while the other stays in the back pool area. This procedure works to ensure their own choices determine their location for the day and helps to keep their day variable in nature.

If you come to Regenstein African Journey to see them, you can find them using their entire habitat during different parts of the day. They are most active in the early morning and late afternoon and can often be seen in the pool gathering up the last bits of greens and leaves. Around midday, look for them in the pupping area on the left-hand side of their pool taking a snooze.

Take Action With Us

To help pygmy hippos, Take Action With Us and make sure you’re buying palm oil with the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil logo. Learn more about the issue here. And to help Annie and Pogo, you can symbolically Adopt them to support their care.