At 21 inches, Aldo, a three-week-old pygmy hippopotamus is just the size of a human baby. Anais, the mother hippo, keeps an eye on son Aldo, at the Vincennes zoo outside Paris

The pygmy hippo, born this month at the Paris Zoo, is one of only a few dozen in Europe, bred in a special program to boost the rare species. The fact that Aldo is a male is good news to the European breeding program. Since the project started in the early 90s, there have been 46 males born and 66 females. Aldo is the 47th male of the species.

Historically, hippos have been found throughout all of SubSaharan Africa, but most populations have been reduced or exterminated. Pygmy hippopotamuses, unlike their bigger brethren, are lonely animals, except during reproduction season. There are no more than 3,000 of them around the world, mostly concentrated in west African countries such as Sierra Leone, Guinea Bissau or Liberia.

The eyes, ears, and nostrils of the hippo are placed high on the roof of the skull. This allows them to spend most of the day with the majority of their body submerged in the waters and mud of tropical rivers to stay cool and prevent sunburn.

Aldo likes alfalfa, carrots, apples and all sorts of vegetables. When captive, pygmy hippos also enjoy grainy feed specially made for them. If you go visiting you can watch him chew on it!

Image credit

Source: IHT80163