Chicagoans don’t have to visit Thailand to see pygmy hippos, even as the viral Moo Deng captures hearts worldwide. The Brookfield and Lincoln Park zoos have pygmy hippos you can visit today.
First, Pygmy Hippos Are NOT Common Hippos
Cassy Kutilek, curator of large mammals and carnivores at Lincoln Park Zoo, said the cousins have some key differences.
- 🦛 The pygmy hippo weighs 400–600 pounds, but the common hippo can weigh thousands.
- 🦛 The smaller hippo is naturally more solitary.
- 🦛 The pygmy hippo is also less aquatic, preferring to stay on the edge of a bank in a swamp.
How Did Pygmy Hippos Arrive at Chicago Zoos?
Pygmy hippos are an endangered species: Their natural habitat of West African rainforests is threatened by deforestation and human activity, said Joan Daniels, Brookfield Zoo associate vice president of animal care and conservation.
Brookfield Zoo and Lincoln Park Zoo are both participating in plans to increase the population in North America.
The southwest suburban zoo got Banana in 2022 after she was born in a facility in Florida a couple of years earlier. Now 5 years old, Banana is old enough to have her own calf, but she doesn’t have a mate.
Love isn’t quite yet in the air at the North Side zoo either: 25-year-old Pogo and 16-year-old Annie still aren’t pregnant a year after they came to Chicago together. Kutilek said Pogo has been a “gentleman” in initiating the mating process.
Annie is that girl. (Courtesy of Lincoln Park Zoo)
Are All Pygmy Hippos So Slippery and Sassy?
Moo Deng is known online for her glossy appearance and for nipping at her caretakers.
Pygmy hippos are slippery because they secrete a substance that protects their taut skin by acting as an antiseptic, sunscreen, and bug spray. Sometimes the secretion is called “blood sweat” because it has a reddish hue, but it is neither blood nor sweat, Kutilek said.
Why else are they slippery? Water and lots of it. Pygmy hippos love water because the sun can dehydrate their skin quickly, Daniels said.
As far as personalities go, Moo Deng isn’t the only one known for sass.
“I think they're all kind of spunky and sassy in general,” Daniels said. “Good things come in small packages.”
Where You Can See the Hippos IRL
Turn off the Moo Deng livestream and see pygmy hippos in Chicagoland.
You can visit Banana at Brookfield Zoo’s Pachyderm Building until the weather gets too cold. But you can catch Annie and Pogo year-round at Lincoln Park Zoo’s Regenstein African Journey habitat.
If there is any news on baby pygmy hippos, we’ll be the first to tell you!
