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MEDIA ADVISORY
January 16, 2007
CONTACT:
Debbie
Sebree
(502) 238-5359 (Office)
(502) 744-5639 (Media Cell)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
A bouncing baby girl
hippo is born at Zoo!
The baby hippo is
now on exhibit daily from
10 a.m. to 4 p.m.,
weather permitting.
A healthy 9-pound female pygmy hippo was
born at the Louisville Zoo sometime between 6 p.m. December 25
and 8 a.m. December 26. This is the second birth of this species
at the Louisville Zoo.
There are only 50 pygmy hippos in 22
locations in North America and births are rare. The gestation period
for pygmy hippos is from 184 to 204 days.
Mother Tracy is being attentive to the calf
and nursing began soon after the birth. Looking just like a
miniature version of mom, the baby is rapidly bulking up, gaining a
pound a day.
Father Maji Kitoto in a nearby stall is
interested in the proceedings but otherwise not involved at this
stage. This is the second birth for the pair. Their first offspring,
a female named Kibibi, was born in May 2005 and is currently sharing
a stall and indoor pool with dad.
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The shy, normally solitary pygmy hippo is
quite different from its nearest relative, the common hippopotamus,
also known as the Nile hippo, which live in large groups and can
weigh as much as 8,000 pounds! The pygmy weighs a compact 400-600
pounds and is about five feet long and 40 inches high. It is better
adapted to life in the dense forest instead of in water.
Pygmy hippos are considered “threatened”
with extinction in the wild and are only found in Africa in the
countries of Liberia, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
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