At first, the only sign of life from the newborn calf was the occasional wiggle and nuzzle into its bed of straw.<\/p>\n
Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n The newborn female pygmy hippo calf at the Toronto Zoo. The zoo’s director of wildlife operations says the new addition has brought a fresh wave of energy and excitement among staff.Toronto Zoo\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n But 15 minutes after she was born, the female pygmy hippopotamus, the size of a loaf of bread, was on her feet. While workers at the Toronto Zoo looked on anxiously, the calf\u2019s mother paced near the baby, shielding her from their watchful eyes. <\/p>\n One week after the Aug. 2 birth, those at the zoo who have been monitoring the new calf said she\u2019s growing stronger, a rarity for the endangered species, which has a low birth survival rate both in captivity and nature. <\/p>\n Grant Furniss, Toronto Zoo\u2019s director of wildlife operations, said the birth is a small, but important step in furthering the zoo\u2019s ultimate goal of reinforcing the species\u2019 population in the wild. <\/p>\n Since the new addition, the energy among staff at the zoo has been contagious, he said. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s fantastic to come to work every single day. People are excited and happy,\u201d he said in a Tuesday interview. <\/p>\n \u201cThis little calf is hitting milestones on a daily basis. It\u2019s not just the birth, but its seeing her develop with her mom each and every day, so we get massive highlights and big serotonin shots out of that.\u201d <\/p>\n Showing humanity to endangered North Atlantic right whales pays off<\/a><\/p>\n Native to West Africa, the mature pygmy hippopotamus population is around 2,500, down from an estimated 29,000 in the 1980s. The species is at risk of dwindling further due to deforestation and excessive hunting, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, a non-profit membership group of government and civil society organizations. <\/p>\n There are only three pygmy hippopotamuses in Canada, all housed at the Toronto Zoo. The calf is the third from 20-year-old mother, Kindia, since she joined the zoo in 2016. <\/p>\n Her first calf, born a year after she arrived, didn\u2019t survive 24 hours. Zoo staff said she needed space alone to grieve after losing the calf. Her second, Penelope, was born in 2018 and now lives at the John Ball Zoo in Grand Rapids, Mich. with a calf of her own.<\/p>\n While researchers don\u2019t yet know why newborn calves struggle, Mr. Furniss said some reasons could be anxiety, vulnerability to diseases or lack of nutrients in the mother\u2019s milk. But, he said, the survival rate rises with the number of calves a mother has, although researchers haven\u2019t discovered why. <\/p>\n Calves usually stay with their mother for up to three years. Pygmy hippos feed on vegetation and spend most of their time on land. They tend to be shy and nocturnal in nature and live to be between 30 and 50 years old. <\/p>\n Pygmy hippo calves have become viral sensations in recent years. In 2024, videos of newborn calf Moo Deng at a Thailand zoo became an instant internet favourite. <\/p>\n