Pygmy hippo

Hippopotamus, hippo or river horse – everyone is familiar with this enormous denizen of the African rivers and lakes. Far less well-known, however, is the hippo’s smaller relative, the Pygmy Hippopotamus. A nocturnal loner, it inhabits the West African rainforests, particularly in Liberia. While it often visits the water to regulate its body temperature and to protect its skin from parasites and heavy exposure to the sun, it also frequents marshy forest thickets, where it feeds on a vegetarian diet of ferns, leaves, tubers, grasses and fruit.