PREVIEW

Moo Deng may have won the hearts of millions of social media fans with her antics at a zoo in Thailand this year - but she’s not the only adorable pygmy hippo on the block.

That’s because Taronga Zoo in Sydney welcomed their own boisterous pygmy hippo calf earlier this year. Lololi was born at 3:05 am on 16 January 2024, weighing just 4kg.

Her mother, Kambiri, a 13-year-old experienced pygmy hippo, gave birth to the calf, which is now thriving at 9 months old and weighs a healthy 65kg - though still looks incredibly cute.

Lololi is currently Australia’s only pygmy hippo calf, making her birth a significant event not just for Taronga Zoo but for conservation efforts globally.

The zoo staff, who were involved in preparing for this much-anticipated birth, chose the name ‘Lololi’, a West African word meaning “there is always love”.

Pygmy hippos are much smaller than their more famous relatives, the common hippopotamus, weighing just one-fifth of the size.

Unlike common hippos, pygmy hippos are solitary, nocturnal, and semi-aquatic mammals. Sadly, they are listed as endangered, with fewer than 2,500 individuals estimated to remain in the wild. These creatures inhabit small populations in the lowland forests and wetlands of West Africa, but their numbers are rapidly decreasing.

Habitat loss due to logging, mining, and agriculture, as well as increased human-animal conflicts, has placed pygmy hippos under severe threat, further exacerbating their decline.

There is hope among conservationists that popular charismatic examples of the species, like Lololi and Moo will help promote conservation efforts that could encourage efforts to preserve this amazing species.

Taronga Zoo has long been dedicated to conservation efforts and is calling on the public to help mitigate habitat loss by choosing products certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). This international eco-label assures consumers that materials used in products such as toilet paper, books, tissues, and timber are sourced sustainably. The zoo hopes that by promoting the FSC, more people will support sustainable forestry and help protect endangered species like the pygmy hippo.