Pygmy hippopotamus
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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
Pink fluid seeps from the pygmy hippopotamus’s skin.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Pygmy hippopotamus
- Scientific name
- Choeropsis liberiensis
- Japanese name
- コビトカバ
- Group
- Land mammals
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Artiodactyla
- Family
- Hippopotamidae
- Genus
- Choeropsis
It lives alone, not in herds, in humid forests with rivers and swamps in western Africa.
It is much smaller than the hippopotamus and is thought to look much like the hippo's ancestors.
It is active from the afternoon until midnight, eating plants such as leaves, fruit and young shoots. During the day it rests near water or in thickets.
How the Pygmy hippopotamus lives
It searches for food on the forest floor or in swamps. It can stand on its hind legs to reach food higher in trees. Its young are born on land.
San Diego ZooBasic data
- Size
- Head and body length: 1.5–1.7 mShoulder height: 0.7–1 m
- Weight
- 160–270 kg
- Diet
- Aquatic plants, leaves, grasses and moss
- Range
- Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea
Where the Pygmy hippopotamus has been recorded
Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF
Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
- 日本語
- コビトカバ
- 简体中文
- 倭河马
- 繁體中文
- 倭河馬
- 한국어
- 피그미하마
- Español
- Hipopótamo pigmeo
- Français
- Hippopotame Pygmée
- Deutsch
- Zwergflusspferd
- Português (Brasil)
- Hipopótamo-pigmeu
- Italiano
- Ippopotamo pigmeo
- العربية
- فرس النهر القزم
- Русский
- Hexaprotodon liberiensis
- Türkçe
- Cüce su aygırı
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- 上野動物園 — コビトカバChecked: 2026-11-03
- San Diego Zoo — Pygmy HippopotamusChecked: 2026-11-05
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
Report a mistakeWhen you meet the Pygmy hippopotamus, look for this
- Look for its nose and ears, which close underwater.
Animals do different things from day to day, so you may not always see this.
San Diego ZooEXHIBIT INFORMATION
Places that keep or show the Pygmy hippopotamus
Zoos, aquariums and other places whose official websites say they keep or show this animal.
Displays can change with the animals’ health and the seasons. Check each facility’s official website before you go.
RELATIVES
Others in Hippopotamidae
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