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Endangered male pygmy hippo calf on show

Melbourne Zoo’s new baby pygmy hippo, the first to be born at the zoo since 1981, has made its media debut.

Pygmy hippopotamus are endangered in the wild but it is difficult for scientists to know just how many are left because they live in the rainforest.

Melbourne Zoo celebrates birth of pygmy hippo
• Wild animals see their reflections for the first time

However, the zoo said the loss of habitat and poaching had “drastically” affected their numbers in the wild.

Just two weeks after the male calf was born, zookeeper James Uren said mother Petre was doing a good job.

“She’s staying close by his side. Whenever he calls out to her she comes over straight away and looks after him,” he said.

See ultrasound scans of the pregnant pygmy hippopotamus below:

“When we let them out to the … yard she’s following right behind him and herding him out the door and guiding him in the right direction.”

Mr Uren said the calf already had a funny personality and they hoped to have a name for him in the next couple of weeks.

“He’ll run around with mouth open, backing up, looking goofy but he conks out pretty quickly,” he said.

Mr Uren said it was amazing to see how quickly the calf was putting on weight.

“I think there was one week where he put on 1.5kg in just two or three days. It’s amazing,” he said.

The next task is to teach the calf how to swim.

“He’s starting off quite shallow to get his bearings and over time we’ll slowly increase the depth to make sure we know he’s confident swimming,” Mr Uren said.

Mr Uren said it was very important that the calf was a male and once he gets older he will be heading off to Adelaide Zoo to participate in their breeding program.

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