Hallo Brötchen! Berlin Zoo welcomes baby pygmy hippo
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Meet Brötchen. The pygmy hippopotamus (Choeropsis liberiensis) was born on May 9th at Germany’s Zoo Berlin, weighing in at 13 pounds. “Brötchen” means “breadroll,” in German, and the zoo’s new member is rapidly becoming everyone’s favorite carb. The baby girl is making headlines and gracing the zoo’s Facebook cover photo. What’s more, its name was revealed in a social media post on June 10 that has now accumulated over 6,000 likes.
A number of Brötchen’s internet appearances involve water. In fact, “water plays an incredibly important role for pygmy hippos,” the zoo explains. “Bathing helps care for their sensitive skin while also allowing the little one to slowly and comfortably get used to the water.”
According to the zoo, pygmy hippo skin secretes a substance that keeps the hippos from drying out. It features antibacterial qualities and also acts as a sunscreen. And for those who think the keeper in the video is washing Brötchen with soap, think again—water makes this secretion foam.
These mammals stand at 2.5 to 3 feet at the shoulder, are 4.5 to 6 feet long, and weigh 400 to 600 pounds once fully grown. Brötchen’s birth is also welcome news from a conservation standpoint. The IUCN Red List classifies Pygmy hippos as endangered, with a decreasing population and only 2,000 to 2,499 adult individuals left. The species is nocturnal and lives in areas of West Africa, and is impacted by mining, deforestation, and habitat destruction.
“While Brötchen is now exploring her outdoor enclosure every day with her mother Debbie, her endangered relatives in West Africa are fighting for survival: fewer than 2,500 adult pygmy hippos remain in their natural habitat,” the zoo wrote when announcing Brötchen’s name. “Protecting them is therefore more important than ever.”
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