Stephanie+K

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Classification: Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Artiodactyla Family: Hippopotamidae Genus: Choeropsis Species: C.liberiensis

What is the male like? Length: 300-505cm the male is bigger than the female and keeps growing throughout life but the female stops growing when they are about 25 years old. They weigh up to 7,000 pounds.

What is the female like? Length:290-430 cm females weigh up to 3,200 pounds. The female has smaller tusks than the male.

Young: Their skin is smooth and thin to help the animal keep cool in the humid rainforest. However, the thin skin could cause the hippo to dehydrate quickly in the sun. Their weight at birth is 3.4 to 6.4 kilograms

Size: 1.5 to 1.7 meters in length

Breeding: When pygmy hippo cows are ready to breed, there is usually a bull waiting nearby. The breeding season in the wild is unknown but normally one calf is born on land after a gestation period of six to seven months. For the first few weeks the mother tucks the calf away in the bushes while she feeds, because the baby cannot walk well. The calf grows quickly and at 5 months of age is already about 10 times its birth weight. Usually they only have 1 young.

Habitat: in wet forests/rainforest and swamps

Feeding: ferns, roots, broad leafed plants and fruits

Weight: 180–275 kg