The shrinking habitat of the world’s most famous hippopotamus

The brilliant Moo Deng attracts crazy attention. But in the wild, its species is quietly disappearing.

But Moo Deng is a sensitive and elusive species, Choeropsis liberiensiswhich comes from West Africa. And while its fame grows, its wild relatives are becoming increasingly rare in its dwindling habitat.

In their natural habitat, pygmy hippos live inland, in forested areas, along rivers, streams and swamps, so they can keep their skin moist. They eat mostly grass, leaves, shoots and fruitsfeeding on vegetation at night and at dusk and dawn.

These charismatic animals have long been part of… culture and folklore West Africa. According to Liberian legendanimals find their way through the forest at night, carrying diamonds in their mouths that light their way. And a story from Ivory Coast says that anyone who sees the tail of a pygmy hippopotamus and starts laughing will go crazy.

However, despite their place in local culture, pygmy hippos are mysterious and have not been studied as intensively as their larger cousins. These are mainly nocturnal, secretive and relatively solitaryand research in West African forests is difficult.

Due to their secretive nature, experts could only learn much about pygmy hippos from camera traps, tracking with footprints and other signs, fecal samples, and modeling to estimate numbers and study their movements. Pygmy hippos kept in captivity in breeding programs have also expanded scientific knowledge of these mammals. The nonprofit Fauna & Flora International and the Liberia Forest Development Authority even used environmental DNA (eDNA) technology for searching for evidence of the existence of creatures in the river systems of southeastern Liberia – a technique involving the analysis of DNA found in their environment.

Although the pygmy hippopotamus has been considered a protected species for decades, Bogui Elie Bandama, a researcher at the Swiss Center for Scientific Research in Côte d’Ivoire, says research efforts intensified after 2010, when pressure on its habitat increased significantly.

Large areas of primary forest, particularly in Côte d’Ivoire, have been destroyed or degraded. For example, tracts of land were razed to establish commercial plantations oil palm, cocoa and rubber. Pressure on wood is another threat. Liberia’s forests have been extensively cleared and the country is struggling to maintain control over illegal logging. Local people throughout the region also cut down trees for firewood.

But the growing threat, Bogui says, comes from illegal mineral extraction. In Taï National Park, people search for gold that accumulates in rivers and streams.

The scale of deforestation and the degradation of their forest habitats is making it very difficult for pygmy hippos to survive in the wild, says Gabriella Flacke, veterinary advisor for pygmy hippos species survival plan and part of the IUCN Hippopotamus Specialist Group. He explains that the species already had a naturally limited range, making it particularly susceptible to this type of loss. “They have nowhere to go,” Flacke says. “Their home ranges are getting smaller and smaller, and there is simply less room for them to behave naturally, reproduce and meet the needs of the ecosystem.”

In addition to the fact that pygmy hippos face threats from shrinking habitat they hunted for meat.

However, efforts to better understand and protect this endangered species continue.

Pygmy hippos are legally protected in all four West African countries within their range, although the level of enforcement varies. “Côte d’Ivoire is probably best prepared for this,” says Flacke. “The country is very politically stable compared to Liberia and Sierra Leone, and has more resources and better infrastructure.”

Bogui undertakes research in the Taï National Park, i.e the largest protected primary rainforest in West Africa and is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. “This park provides the pygmy hippopotamus with suitable habitat, food and, above all, protection – even if it is not 100% guaranteed,” he says. He estimates that there are currently 800 to 1,000 people there.

Bogui says the Ivory Coast government has made some conservation efforts, such as planting more trees and tightening laws protecting pygmy hippos.

Neus Estela, West Africa technical specialist at Fauna & Flora, says the main goal of the conservation strategy is to connect all remaining pygmy hippopotamus populations. To achieve this, the team collaborated on a landscape-level assessment to identify potential conservation corridors in southeastern Liberia.

Poverty AND corruption remain significant barriers to preventing habitat loss for this and other endangered species.

One of the solutions that Fauna & Flora is working on with the government and communities in Liberia is the creation of a project under: A forest protection program supported by the UN REDD+ to help fight the drivers of deforestation and degradation, all while supporting local people’s livelihoods and respecting land rights.

Flacke would like to see more conservation efforts involving local communities in West Africa. “There is a lot of interest locally. They know that the pygmy hippopotamus is an iconic species, perhaps a key species for the ecosystem. However, the reality of environmental protection is that if there is no infrastructure and resources to support it, people struggle, no matter how enthusiastic and committed they are,” he says.

To try to solve this problem, a pilot project sponsored by Zoo Basel encourages unemployed young people living near the Gola forests in Sierra Leone and Liberia to become ambassadors for this endangered species. The Pygmy Hippopotamus Foundation also trains local forest guards in Sapo National Park to monitor and protect the pygmy hippopotamus population.

Despite years of research, both in captivity and in the wild, it is still unknown how pygmy hippos live. For example, Flacke hopes to learn more about the size of their natural range and whether they behave the same in the wild as they do in captivity, he says.

The pygmy hippopotamus is also likely to play an important role in its local ecosystem. Scientists speculate that, like the common hippopotamus, pygmy hippos may help spread seeds and process nutrients spreading dung, and maybe even building up river banks.

ZSL identified pygmy hippos as a conservation priority in 2007 as part of its program The Edge of Existence programbut told BBC Future he was no longer doing any significant work on the genre.

“There are about 450 pygmy hippos living in captivity around the world,” says Flacke. But they can attract extreme attention which can be disturbing or even harmful to such a shy being. Over the past few weeks, Moo Deng has been harassed by some guests, which led to a security breach grew around her pen. Bogui notes that while zoos serve to protect endangered species, it is much better to keep their original habitats intact.

An updated IUCN assessment of pygmy hippos is due to be published next year, and Flacke predicts numbers will decline again. “They’re still there, we know that. But there are certainly populations where they haven’t been seen for 20 years and there are no footprints, feces or tooth marks. Where are they going? Well, they are gone,” he says.

While Moo Deng is winning hearts around the world, thousands like her are struggling.

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