Baby Pygmy Hippo born at Colchester Zoo

December 10, 2009 6:18 PM

A UK zoo is celebrating the rare birth of baby pygmy hippo - by releasing these photos of the cute critter.

The healthy female - who has not yet been named - was born to her eight-year-old mother Venus on Friday the 27th November and has been getting on well since then.

Staff at Colchester Zoo say she has been running around the pen and settling in nicely. They will now weigh her every day to ensure that she continues to mature at a healthy rate.

Currently the pocket-sized hippopotamus weighs just 8kg but she will grow to 20 times that size... though that is still a fraction of what most hippos (and people who stay at home looking at pictures of cute animals on the internet) weigh.

A spokesperson for the zoo said: "Mother and baby have been doing well and have built a tight bond with the baby suckling strongly.

"Venus has proven herself to be an excellent mother constantly checking to keep her baby in her sight."

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