Kosta+G

media type="custom" key="21173556"
 * Name: Pygmy Hippopotamus**
 * Kingdom: Anamalia**
 * Phylum: Chordata**
 * Class: Mammalia**
 * Order: Artiodactyla**
 * Family: Hippopotamidae**
 * Genus: Choeropsis**
 * Species: Choeropsis Liberiensis**
 * Status: Endangerd**
 * Lifespan: 30-55 years old**
 * Main Preadetor: Leapord**
 * Young per birth: 1, very rarely 2**
 * The Pygmy Hippopotamus (//Choeropsis liberiensis// or //Hexaprotodon liberiensis//) is a small hippopotamid native to the forests and swamps in West Africa, primarily in Liberia and in small populations in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Cote d'vloire.**
 * The males weigh close to 3 tones and the females weigh close to 1.5 tones****, both are** **1.4m to 1.6m metres. Baby Pygmy Hippopotamuses are 3 feet tall and can weigh from 60kg-110kg heavy. Pygmy Hippopotamus are vegetarians and feed on leaves, plants and fresh shoots when traveling the undergrowth in the late evening and night time.**
 * As the Pygmy Hippopotamus’s are nocturnal they spend their days like most other hippos resting and cooling down in water and mud. The female Pygmy Hippopotamus can be pregnent for 8 months and mate with a male hippo when they are at 4-5 years of age.**
 * Pygmy hippopotamus's are shy and elusive animals to different species to their own, but are very social with their own kind, so they were not discovered by the scientific community until 1849. Even so, many people did not believe they existed because none had been captured. It was not considered a distinct and existent species until 1911, when five live specimens were captured and brought to Europe.**
 * Pygmy hippopotamus's usually hide in the thick undergrowth found in tropical rainforests.** **They live both on land and in water, but spend less time in water than full-sized hippos, their only relatives. They sleep on land during the day, but wake up late afternoon or early evening to begin feeding. Unlike full-sized hippos, who are extremely gregarious and live in groups, pygmy hippos live solitary lives, rarely coming into contact with each other except during mating season. Although they have large, strong teeth, rather than stay and try to defend themselves when threatened, they usually flee to the forest, unlike full-sized hippos who head for the water when in danger. They are generally quiet animals, but are capable of vocalisations including snorts, grunts, groans and hisses.**
 * The Pygmy Hippopotamus's habitat at the zoo is a large area for the hippo's to mess about. It includes a large pond and land coverd with dirt, mud, grass, bushes and trees.Also there is a viewing room so that people can see the hippo's both on land and underwater.Their habitat is much different than in the wild, for one reason there are many people observing the Pygmy Hippopotamus's, but in the wild the Hippo's are hardly disturbed and observed. Another reason is because the staff at the zoo feed and shelter the hippo's in the morning, afternoon and at night, however in the wild, Hippo's find their own food, water and shelter all by themselves and lastly, the Hippo's are protected at the zoo from any threats, unfortunantly in the wild, the Hippo's are left to fend for themselves from any threat.**