Pygmy Hippo — printable fact sheet

Did you know?

• The pygmy hippo was not scientifically described until the 19th century due to its secretive, nocturnal habits and dense forest habitat.
• The pygmy hippo's closest living relatives, like the common hippo's, are whales and dolphins — a relationship confirmed by molecular work and by fossil ankle bones, and one of the more startling results in mammal phylogeny. Females can conceive and give birth on land or in water and, unusually for hippos, a pygmy hippo calf does not follow its mother constantly but is left hidden in dense cover while she forages, a strategy more like a deer's. A pygmy hippo born in Thailand in 2024 named Moo Deng became a global internet phenomenon, doing more for the species' public profile in months than decades of conservation messaging.