Who doesn’t love baby animals?
If you’re headed to Australia anytime soon, be sure to head over to Sydney’s Taronga Zoo to check out the cutest of the cute, a three-week-old pygmy hippopotamus named Monifa.
Monifa, which means “I am lucky” in Nigerian, is the first baby of the rare breed to be born at the zoo in 23 years.
She only weighed eight pounds at birth, but has since gained another four and half pounds.
She won’t stay tiny for long though. Pygmy hippos are about one-fifth smaller than regular hippos, but they still grow to about 650 pounds as adults.
The species is much less well-known than its larger cousins, mostly because they are nocturnal, secretive, forest-dwelling creatures. Only about 3,000 are believed to exist in the wilderness of western Africa.
Monifa was rejected by her mother after a difficult breech birth, and is currently being cared for round-the-clock by two zoo employees who take turns hand-feeding and playing with her.
Zookeepers say that her birth is significant because the wild population of the endangered pygmy hippo is declining due to war, pollution and deforestation.
Link: The Australian, ABC, Daily Mail
By Karen Elowitt for PeterGreenberg.com.
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