Rare birth of a male pygmy hippopotamus at Basel Zoo
Published: Wednesday, Jun 5th 2024, 13:00
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Basel Zoo has had an offspring of pygmy hippos. The little bull Voobadee was born in March 2024, as the zoo announced on Wednesday.
Due to the cold temperatures in spring, he usually stayed indoors, but now he is increasingly venturing outside with his mother. The birth of a male is a rarity in the Basel breeding program for pygmy hippos, curator Adrian Baumeyer told the media on Wednesday.
Since 1992, the "Zolli" in Basel has been coordinating the European zoos' conservation breeding program for pygmy hippos. This is a "dating service for zoo animals", in which the genetic requirements for a possible pair formation are decisive. In order to find this out, the relationship must be precisely recorded in the studbook, as Baumeyer said. The pygmy hippopotamus, a shy loner in the forests of West Africa, is highly endangered in its habitat.
The rhinoceros made zoo history
Right next to the pygmy hippopotamus enclosure, another new addition has been made. Basel Zoo has completed the renovation of the rhino house. The roof of the 1959 building was sealed, insulated and fitted with a photovoltaic system.
The zoo has also renewed the exhibition. Under the motto "Animal husbandry in transition", information boards in the form of a timeline guide visitors through the history of rhino breeding in Basel. This is particularly significant here: Rudra was born there in 1956, the first rhinoceros ever born in a zoo.
There are also newcomers in the house. The brown tortoise can be seen at Basel Zoo for the first time. Like many rhinoceros species, it is also threatened with extinction. These reptiles live in the mountain forests of Asia, are relatively good climbers and grow up to 60 centimetres tall.
©Keystone/SDA
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