The zoo’s newest baby animal doesn’t quite look the part.
Mabel, a 2-month-old pygmy hippopotamus calf born Oct. 1, is now on display at the Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium’s Lied Jungle. The newborn already weighs 76 pounds, up from 19 pounds at birth.
When fully grown, Mabel will weigh between 350 and 600 pounds. Pygmy hippos are between one-eighth and one-fifth the size of the common hippopotamus, the zoo said in a statement.
Mabel’s species is listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Pygmy hippos are native to the rain forests and swamps of western Africa and can be found in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Ivory Coast, among other countries.
Mabel is on display with her mother, Chomel, a 15-year-old who came from the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago. Her father, Scooby, is a 24-year-old born in the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, Texas. Mabel’s keepers in the zoo’s African rain forest named her.
Contact the writer: 402-444-1734, chris.peters@owh.com, twitter.com/_ChrisPeters
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