Hippo Milestones

Our Pygmy Hippo calf ‘Kambiri’ is growing up and no longer has the daily supplementary feeds from Zoo Keepers to give mother, ‘Petre’, a helping hand.

This is great news since Kambiri is now getting everything she needs from Petre and it’s also a great step for our Pygmy Hippo breeding program.  Due to a difficult breach birth, Petre’s first calf ‘Monifa’ had to be hand-raised by keepers. Kambiri’s birth has allowed Petre to learn the mothering skills needed to care for her own young which we hope will be used to for any calves she may have in the future.

Kambiri is also growing fast, now weighing in at 30kgs, which is six times her birth weight! She is still having milk feeds from mum but also eats a lot of solid foods that are scattered around her exhibit. Some days her weight increases by a kilogram. She is definitely a hungry little hippo.

Kambiri is also proving to be a water baby. In her exhibit is a large moat, this is something that Kambiri has become very fond of, and at times Keepers are finding it hard to get her out of the water at the end of the day.