Population
Decreasing
What they look like
The pygmy hippopotamus is, as its name suggests, much smaller in size than the common hippopotamus – which weighs approximately five times more. Pygmy hippos, unlike common hippos, are far more adapted to a land-dwelling lifestyle with fewer webbed toes and a smaller more streamlined head. Significantly their eyes are on the sides of their head instead of on top showing enabling them to see better whilst running through forests. Both sexes have long tusks and are usually difficult to tell apart.
Animal facts
Hippos have very sensitive skin which easily becomes dry and cracked. A fluid oozes from glands under the skin which helps keep the skin moist and stops sunburn. Pygmy hippos like being alone and avoid each other in the wild, meeting only to mate.
What they eat
Water plants, grasses, leaves and fruit
Habitat
Rivers and swamps in dense forests
Where they live
Western Africa
Threats
Hunted by man and leopard for their meat
Order
Cetartiodactyla
Family
Hippopotamidae
Life Span
40 years
