This article was published on March 29, 2012

Stop the presses! Here’s a baby pygmy hippo


Stop the presses! Here’s a baby pygmy hippo

Here at The Next Web, we really value solid, hard hitting content. We’ve trained ourselves to prefer breaking news over sleep and love long form, thought provoking pieces too.

That said, everybody needs a quick break every once and a while and this is exactly why we have our Sharables channel. So, in order to gift you some Friday cheer on this humble Thursday, I bring you something so sickeningly cute you’ll want to kiss the screen: A baby hippo named Prince Harry.

Prince Harry is a Pygmy Hippo that was born this morning in South Africa at The Cango Wildlife Ranch. He’s an adorable little guy weighing in at a healthy 5.1kg, and I’m sure his parents, Hilda and Herbert, the Pygmy Hippopotamus pair, are quite proud.

Here are all the dramatic details, via Zooborns:

Hilda’s water broke last Wednesday afternoon, creating much excitement and anticipation on the ranch. Immediately Hilda and Herbert were separated, making it easier for staff to observe Hilda. The Hippo pond was drained as well to eliminate the risk of her giving birth in the water.

Ranch Director, Rob Hall, and Reptile Curator, Neal Martin monitored Hilda throughout Wednesday night…quietly watching her from a safe distance. After a long and uncomfortable night Rob and Neal dozed off just after 5h30 and awoke just less than an hour later, only to discover that Hilda had just given birth! They quietly observed the mother and baby for some time. Hilda was clearly exhausted!

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According to ZooBorns, the “Pygmy Hippopotamus’ wild population is classified as critically endangered.” So while we’d love to see these animals back in the wild, it looks like captivity is the best option. For more information and pictures of the adorable newborn, check out the link below!

➤  ZooBorns

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