Pygmy hippo calf dies at San Diego Zoo

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (KABC) -- A pygmy hippo calf died only one week after being born at the San Diego Zoo.

The zoo tweeted out a photo of the baby hippo, asking its followers to share sympathy with staff over the loss.


The 12-pound baby was born in the early morning hours of Nov. 13 to mother hippo, Francesca. It was the first surviving hippo birth for the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park in more than a decade.

Pygmy hippos are an endangered species native to forests in West Africa. There are less than 2,000 of these small hippos in the world, with most of the population concentrated in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and the Ivory Coast.