Rare birth of pygmy hippo

Although the numbers of pygmy hippo's have fallen due to the constant threat of poaching and war in west African countries, a zoo in Sydney, Australia is celebrating.

Monifa, whose name means "I am lucky" in Nigeria, was indeed very lucky. She was born three weeks ago after a difficult breach birth. The piglet-sized hippo was unable to stand or feed herself and was nursed around the clock by staff at Taronga Zoo in Sydney Australia. Zoo keepers Renae Zammit and Tracy Roberts spent two-weeks with Monifa, sleeping with her and hand-feeding her from a teated syringe until she was nursed to full health. She has doubled in weight and is drinking from a bowl, content to suckle the thumb of her keepers. Monifa has now moved into her own pen and ready to follow the footsteps of her father Timmy, the last pygmy hippo born at Taronga Zoo 23 years ago.

"She is already showing signs of playfulness and this inquisitive little thing loves bath time, turning somersaults in the water". A delighted Miss Zammit said.

The natural habitat of this endangered species is lowland tropical forests of west Africa. They grow to about four feet in height, almost half the size of other hippos. There are believed to be just 3,000 pygmy hippos living in the wild, mostly in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast and Nigeria.