Overview
- The unnamed female calf, which was born on 9 May, has nearly doubled her birth weight to about 10 kilograms and is feeding reliably according to Zoo Berlin staff.
- Zoo Berlin published photos this week showing the roughly two-week-old calf sitting in a water-filled tub and briefly exploring grass with mother Debbie close by.
- Keepers staged the supervised outdoor bath to help the calf’s sensitive skin, which produces a protective secretion that foams whitish on contact with water and acts as a natural sunscreen and barrier.
- Zoo officials said the newborn will stay in a protected backstage area for now because pygmy hippos are particularly vulnerable in their first weeks and the park has not set a public viewing date.
- The birth matters for conservation because pygmy hippos are listed as threatened, with fewer than 2,500 adults in West African forests, and Zoo Berlin links such births to fundraising and field research projects supporting the species.