Pygmy hippos in captivity

nczoofan said:
@Xenarthra The Pygmy Hippo SSP is slated to expand rapidly in the coming years if breeding is able to fill new exhibits. The below document from last year states 9 institutions that are building new exhibits in the coming 3-5 years. These include Greensboro Science Center and Tulsa Zoo. Wildlife World Zoo and Metro Richmond have just added the species as well.

https://static1.squarespace.com/sta...0f84/1558353121507/2019+-+WPPH+TAG+Update.pdf
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This was a great little read, thanks for sharing! The new goal of 4 female common hippos per breeding group might herald the needed change for a lot of zoos and pygmy hippos then. Motivation to consolidate females when possible + all of the older/smaller housing suitable only for a pair being unusable + desires for lower cost/maintenance, might cause a big shift in where common hippos are exhibited. Not fantastic for folks who love them, but it's a big opening that the pygmy species could fill.

One thing I'd be interested to see is if pygmy hippos can fill the gap as an "anchor" species like their cousins. I think they're charismatic enough, but I can see zoos being reluctant to phase out an ABC species like hippos if the replacement is viewed as supporting cast for gorillas in a Congo section.
 
@Zorro It's a rather long and interesting story, including bicycling through the forests of Liberia, carthographing Liberia, negotiating with local chiefs, attempts to tame pygmy hippos and almost losing them to a storm. Too bad nobody has tackled this recently from a cinematic angle; Schomburgk's life would make for a great movie. You can either read his original report in Pulsschlag der Wildnis or the relevant chapters in this book:
Pygmy hippo
 
Thought I would mention this in this thread but about a decade ago I saw a pygmy hippo at the Morelia zoo in Michoacan, Mexico.

This was the only place I have ever seen this species being kept in Latin America. I've always wondered what the story behind how this animal came to be there was as it was such a strange place to see one (though there are quite a few other unusual species there not often seen in zoos).
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
Thought I would mention this in this thread but about a decade ago I saw a pygmy hippo at the Morelia zoo in Michoacan, Mexico.

This was the only place I have ever seen this species being kept in Latin America. I've always wondered what the story behind how this animal came to be there was as it was such a strange place to see one (though there are quite a few other unusual species there not often seen in zoos).
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From the 2012 studbook which is online, the two females they had were both born at San Diego Zoo. One was born in December 1970 and the other in July 1978. They came to Morelia together in October 1978 via "Tatum E". The older female was sent to Leon in 1980 and died there in 1982. The younger one stayed at Morelia and is the only one listed as still being present in the 2012 studbook but with the note that the data hasn't been updated.

A male born at Brownsville in December 1978 was imported to Morelia in November 1979. This one was moved between Morelia, Leon, and Toluca, and then back to Morelia in January 1998, but then listed as "lost to follow-up" in 1999 (although supposedly a calf was born in c.2000).

A male calf was born in May 1982 but died after two days. Another male born in August 1999 died the same day. A third, with sex listed as unknown, was supposedly born c.2000 and died September 2001.
 
A large problem in the captive Pygmy hippo-population is still that females outnumber the males.
To get a better insight in this problem I decided to check just a random year in the International ZooYear Book and for 1980 I found the following numbers :
8 males - 6 females a nd 2 of unknown sex were born 1980 which is conta the general rule that males are rarer as females !
However not all these animals survaived and the number which didn't make it are :
4 males - one female and one of unknown sex
This gives also a complete differed picture and the netto-increase in the population by births was also :
4 males - 6 females and one of unknown sex !
In the same YearBook also the numbers from the International Studbook of the Pygmy hippo are given for the same year :
Born : 8 males - 10 females and 3 of unknown sex ( which mean that a number of births wasn't reported to the List of births at the International Zoo Year Book ! )
Died ( total population, also not just the newborns ) : 7 males - 5 females and 2 of unknown sex.
In all those number the population-growth is again in favor of the females...
 
Batto said:
Funny enough, we have a similar situation with Inland taipans in European collections: it's a bit trickier to get males than females.
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I guess you have already been trying to incubate the eggs at differt temperatures ?
 
Chlidonias said:
From the 2012 studbook which is online, the two females they had were both born at San Diego Zoo. One was born in December 1970 and the other in July 1978. They came to Morelia together in October 1978 via "Tatum E". The older female was sent to Leon in 1980 and died there in 1982. The younger one stayed at Morelia and is the only one listed as still being present in the 2012 studbook but with the note that the data hasn't been updated.

A male born at Brownsville in December 1978 was imported to Morelia in November 1979. This one was moved between Morelia, Leon, and Toluca, and then back to Morelia in January 1998, but then listed as "lost to follow-up" in 1999 (although supposedly a calf was born in c.2000).

A male calf was born in May 1982 but died after two days. Another male born in August 1999 died the same day. A third, with sex listed as unknown, was supposedly born c.2000 and died September 2001.
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Really interesting to read this and know this animals life story. Thank you for sharing this !

It was indeed a lone individual so I think it would have been the younger female that you mention (still this is an animal that is actually much older than I expected it would be !).
 
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However...

This photo was taken in 2011 and shows two animals, so presumably the studbook data is incomplete (i.e. a new animal had been obtained from a source not in the studbook, such as a private dealer).

full
 
Chlidonias said:
However...

This photo was taken in 2011 and shows two animals, so presumably the studbook data is incomplete (i.e. a new animal had been obtained from a source not in the studbook, such as a private dealer).

full
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Interesting , I actually visited that zoo during that same year and I only remember having seen one of these.

The enclosure doesn't look the same either from what I recall as I remember being quite disappointed to see that the hippo had one of those plastic kennel style shelters (Morelia zoo at the time of my visit really did leave a lot to be desired in terms of many of the enclosures).

The place where the hippo was kept from memory was in a sort of shaded / thicketed part of the zoo and there was a female jaguar that was kept nearby (I think this same cat was one that was eventually moved to Chapultepec but not 100% sure).
 
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In the South Korea, a pair of pygmy hippos at the Seoul Zoo. The male is named 'Hamong' and the female is named 'Namong'.

Hamong is known to have been born on June 17, 1983, but the studbook uploaded by Vogelcommando does not have a matching pygmy hippo. According to that studbook, it is presumed that male Maikel, born on March 10, 1977, is Hamong. But one thing for sure, Hamong is blind by his old age.

When a female who lived with Hamong died in 2013, the Seoul Zoo brought in Julie, a female who was born on June 9, 2012, from the Colchester Zoo in 2015. her name is current Namong.

As far as I know, Hamong is rarely displayed outdoors because of the his visual impairment, so usually only Namong is outdoors. Seoul Zoo refers to pygmy hippo as "kkoma-hama", this Korean word can be interpreted as a "baby hippo". Because of this Korean name and the appearance of Pygmy hippo, almost all visitors to Seoul Zoo think pygmy hippo is just a young hippo. What a pity.
 
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In both Chinese and Japanese “Pygmy Hippo” gets translated to “Dwarf/Midget Hippo.”
 
aardvark250 said:
@vogelcommando studbook only list Taipei and Chinshang Farm. Just check Shoushan and they seem to have them too. Where is the remaining one? Hsinchu and Wanpi World don't seem to have them.
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The last studbook available on the internet dates back to 2012 (your data ...).
Hence the information you cite is somewhat out of date.
 
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