Karmactive Staff
A female pygmy hippopotamus named Anuket was born at Montgomery Zoo on February 9, to mother Lola and father Nile. After spending her first month bonding with her mother, Anuket made her public debut on March 14 and can now be viewed in the Pygmy Hippo nursing suite near the capybaras.
Zoo officials describe Anuket as energetic and feisty with a strong personality and particular fondness for watermelon. Her name comes from the Egyptian goddess of the Nile River, and she is Nile’s first daughter.
The birth carries substantial conservation weight as pygmy hippos are classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), with fewer than 3,000 individuals remaining in their native West African habitats.
This birth marks the eighth pygmy hippo born at Montgomery Zoo in nine years, showing the facility’s consistent breeding success. Previous calves—Ronda (2024), Meela (2023), Hadari (2022), Betty Rose and Blanche (2019), Levi (2018), and Monty (2016)—have all been transferred to other accredited facilities to support population growth of this endangered species.
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Montgomery Zoo participates in the Species Survival Plan (SSP), a collaborative breeding program among accredited zoos that works to maintain genetic diversity in captive endangered species populations.
Pygmy hippos are large mammals native to forests and swamps of western Africa. They’re smaller cousins of common hippopotamuses, reaching only about half the height (30-32 inches) and quarter of the weight (400-600 pounds) of their larger relatives. These semi-aquatic animals need proximity to water to maintain moisturized skin and regulate body temperature.
Nocturnal and reclusive by nature, pygmy hippos breed well in captivity despite being difficult to study in wild settings. Young pygmy hippos can grow to ten times their birth weight by five months of age.
Visitors can see Montgomery Zoo’s other adult pygmy hippopotamuses in their permanent exhibit in the Africa realm.
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