{"id":24457,"date":"2025-07-20T19:49:23","date_gmt":"2025-07-20T19:49:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/24457\/"},"modified":"2025-07-20T19:49:23","modified_gmt":"2025-07-20T19:49:23","slug":"zoo-miamis-adorable-pygmy-hippo-gets-health-check-take-a-look","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/24457\/","title":{"rendered":"Zoo Miami\u2019s adorable pygmy hippo gets health check. Take a look"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Zoo Miami\u2019s beloved pygmy hippopotamus, Aubergine, got some extra care this week after showing signs of lethargy and a drop in appetite. Born at the zoo in August 2018, Aubergine has faced big challenges for such a little hippo\u2014he was born with a congenital defect that left his upper palate underdeveloped, making it difficult to eat without food slipping into his sinuses and lungs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Thanks to years of specialized care, including a delicate palate reconstruction surgery, Aubergine has been thriving with the help of Zoo Miami\u2019s Animal Health team, according to zoo communication director Ron Magill., a renowned wildlife photographer who documented the procedure. Magill singled out Gaby Flacke, an associate veterinarian and a recognized expert in hippo health.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">On Thursday, Aubergine was gently anesthetized so vets could take a closer look at what might be bothering him. The hippo underwent a full exam \u2014 complete with X-rays, ultrasounds, and a sinus endoscopy. Doctors found and cleared a few small blockages in his sinuses, but fortunately, no major issues were detected.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">After a smooth recovery, Aubergine is back to his daily routine and being closely monitored. The team is hopeful his appetite will return soon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Pygmy hippos, which weigh between 400 and 600 pounds (tiny compared to their river hippo cousins), are endangered, with fewer than 3,000 believed to remain in the wild.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Pictures from his examinations:<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Chief of Animal Health, Dr. Gwen Myers, along with Zoological Supervisor, Tabitha Miller, prepare Aubergine for intubation\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"638\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/412cefc051a74f1ced521fa53d84a23c.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Chief of Animal Health, Dr. Gwen Myers, along with Zoological Supervisor, Tabitha Miller, prepare Aubergine for intubation<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Zoo Miami Associate Veterinarian Dr. Marisa Bezjian takes a radiograph of Aubergine with the assistance of Veterinary Technician, Dianna Gutierrez\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"640\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0acc93b77e87aff4dbbf8edeb747f84b.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Zoo Miami Associate Veterinarian Dr. Marisa Bezjian takes a radiograph of Aubergine with the assistance of Veterinary Technician, Dianna Gutierrez<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Aubergine on habitat\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"639\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/4646e034270628451acfd5c4f685151f.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Aubergine on habitat<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Zoo Miami\u2019s beloved pygmy hippopotamus, Aubergine, got some extra care this week after showing signs of lethargy and&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24458,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[21707,21709,21710,710,79,201,21708],"class_list":["post-24457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-aubergine","tag-congenital-defect","tag-hippo","tag-pygmy-hippopotamus","tag-science","tag-wildlife","tag-zoo-miami"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24457\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}