Amara checks out her new home in the capital [ZSL]

A PYGMY hippo is making itself at home at London Zoo after a transfer from Scotland.

Amara made the switch to the Regent’s Park attraction on Thursday and will be set up with hopeful mate Thug as part of the European Breeding Programme for Endangered Species.

Pygmy hippo keeper Poppy Jewell said: “Amara was really chilled when she arrived – she happily trotted straight out of her cosy travel crate and into her new home where she enjoyed a tasty snack of kale and cabbage before settling down for a snooze.” 

With only an estimated 2,500 pygmy hippos left in the wild, ZSL – the conservation charity behind London Zoo – has worked to protect the species, which is particularly threatened by hunting, logging and mining, through its work with local communities and wildlife authorities in Liberia and Sierra Leone, as well as this vital conservation breeding programme. 

Pygmy hippos are at No.33 on ZSL’s EDGE of Existence (Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered) mammals list – which ranks threatened species according to their evolutionary distinctiveness to prioritise them for conservation action. The zoo said they represent an important and unique branch of the evolutionary tree, as there is literally no other species like them on earth.

Two year-old Amara has been set up with 26-year-old Thug [ZSL]

Amara, who weighs 200kg, and 26-year-old Thug, who tips the scales at 280kg, hit it off straight away when they were introduced in the pair’s hippo hot tub, a warm soothing spa for the duo to wallow in as the species does in the wild.  

“Unsurprisingly, Thug – whose name is a purposefully ironic one as he is actually a gentle giant – was really excited about having a new lady in his hippo hot tub, while Amara was cool, calm and collected; she’s definitely going to have the upper hoof in the relationship,” said Ms Jewell said. “All the signs we’ve seen so far has been really encouraging and in a few years’ time, when Amara comes of age, we have our fingers crossed we’ll hear the trot-trot of tiny pygmy hippos.  

She added:  “Adding to the population of this Endangered species is all part of our core focus of protecting wildlife at London Zoo. We also hope that seeing her and Thug and learning about this unique species will inspire the next generation of conservationists.”