He’s No Stick In The Mud! Harry The Pygmy Hippo Basks In Bath Time
March 30 2012, Published 8:45 a.m. ET
By Debbie Emery - RadarOnline.com Reporter
Oh so cute!
A hungry baby hippo has a name fit for a king - and an attitude to match - and RadarOnline.com has photos of the super cute calf while he gets his daily bath.
Named after Britain’s Prince Harry, the tiny pygmy hippopotamus was born last week at the Cango Wildlife Ranch near the Western Cape of South Africa, reported local newspaper The Star.
Weighing in at a healthy 11.2 pounds, Harry is a much more manageable size than regular hippos – who are known as the biggest killers in Africa – and is now being hand-reared after his mother refused to feed him.
Handlers were also concerned that hefty Hilda might roll over and crush the little guy, so now he is getting around-the-clock care from the ranch staff. “Pygmy hippo mothers are either great moms or silly moms. She unfortunately has lost a few of her babies after she squashed them,” said Rob Hall, the operations director at Cango.
Harry’s small stature doesn’t make him an easy ward as he requires feeding every three hours with a mixture of ideal milk and water, currently glugging down 125ml of milk per meal, which is followed by bath time with handler Toni Inggs to keep his skin moist.
Rare pygmy hippos are found in West Africa – particularly Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Ivory Coast – and there are believed to be only 3,000 of them in the wild.
“They have been threatened by the bushmeat trade in these countries,” Hall explained.
“These animals are such great characters, and we can see this with Harry,” he said, adding that just like his namesake, when he grows up the pygmy prince will be found a fitting mate.
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