With less than 3,000 in the wild, pygmy hippos are highly endangered. By breeding babies like this little girl, conservationists hope to help save the species from extinction. The public is invited to help pick a name for her on the Marwell Zoological Park website. Options include Loko, Kadina, Zimmi and Lola.

Photo credit: Solent News and Photo Agency

Photo credit: Solent News and Photo Agency

8 December 2008

Rare baby pygmy hippo takes first steps at Marwell Zoological Park

Marwell Zoological Park is celebrating the birth of a pygmy hippopotamus by asking the general public to help name her. Born three weeks ago as part of a conservation breeding programme to help save the species from extinction, keepers are inviting people to select a name for the baby hippo from a shortlist of four: Loko, Kadina, Zimmi and Lola, to vote visit Marwell’s website: http://www.marwell.org.uk 

Pygmy hippopotamus are related to their larger cousin the
common hippo but are, as the name suggests, much smaller. Marwell’s baby pygmy
hippo now weighs around 10 kilos (22 pounds) and has already formed a strong
bond with her mum Wendy, spending many hours swimming together in their pool.

With less than 3000 in the wild, Marwell’s latest arrival is
a vital addition to this rare and endangered species. The pygmy hippo’s natural
habitat in west Africa has been increasingly logged and farmed over the last
100 years, with large areas of their natural habitat being lost in last 30
years. Their numbers have steadily declined and the species is now listed as
Endangered on the IUCN Red List. If their natural habitat continues to decline
their future is uncertain: the population is likely to continue to decline by
20% over the course of the next 20 years.

Her keepers have already short listed four names after
places in the pygmy hippo native home in west Africa. The names to choose from
are:

Loko. Port Loko is the capital and largest city of Port Loko
District, in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone. Port Loko lies on Port Loko
Creek, which flows into the Sierra
Leone river.

Kadina. Kadina is a city in eastern Sierra Leone

Zimmi. Zimmi is a town located in southern Sierra Leone

.

Lola.  Lola is a town
in the Forest Region of Guinea. It is located near

Mount

Nimba

,
the highest peak in the nation. It is known for traditional medicine, cloth
manufacture and is also home to the African grey parrot.

To vote log onto Marwell’s website, http://www.marwell.org.uk
Voting closes on Friday 12th December 2008.