Baby pygmy hippo splashes into the world
Sunday 15 October 2000
PHOTOCALL… PHOTOCALL… PHOTOCALL
DATE: TUESDAY 17TH OCTOBER 2000
TIME: 9.45AM
PLACE: WHIPSNADE WILD ANIMAL PARK,
BEDFORDSHIRE (MEET AT THE ESTATE OFFICE)
CONTACT: SUSAN WILKS, RPPR TEL: 020 7881 3232
SIMON HODGE, WHIPSNADE WILD ANIMAL PARK
TEL: 01582 872171
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BABY PYGMY HIPPO SPLASHES INTO THE WORLD AT WHIPSNADE WILD ANIMAL PARK
Keepers at Whipsnade Wild Animal Park are welcoming a new arrival -- an as yet unnamed baby pygmy hippopotamus born on 2 September 2000. The 18kg male measures in at 60cm in length -- a tiny version of its mum Tappita. Fully grown pygmy hippos can grow up to 1.75m in length and weigh up to 270kg, so the calf has a long way to go!
Vulnerable in the wild, Whipsnade has successfully bred sixteen pygmy hippos since the 1960s as part of its conservation programme, and the latest addition to the family has been warmly greeted. The pygmy hippo calf will be introduced to the world on Tuesday, by mum Tappita, taking her baby for his first swim.
Whipsnade is also home to the new calf's close family -- sister Torpedo (born on the 23 November 1998) and half-sister Tanase.
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