They may be the size of a Shetland pony and weigh up to 275kg (600lb) but pigmy hippos are very hard to spot in the wild.
In their West African homelands they live in dense forest and only move around at night, which makes them elusive and difficult to study.
The other factor preventing a proper assessment of the species is that they are increasingly rare. There are thought to be fewer than 3,000 wild pigmy hippos left, although there are captive animals in zoos around the world.
In 2015, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the global authority on the state of nature in the world, estimated the figure to be closer to 2,500.
Early in 2026, researchers from the Institute for Breeding Rare and Endangered African Mammals (IBREAM) visited the Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire) to attempt to find the animal they have been working to protect since 2010. Previously, they had images caught by camera traps but no one had seen one with their own eyes.
On the last day of their stay they were ecstatic to not only film but observe for around 30 minutes a pigmy hippo and her calf.
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Finding the pigmy hippo in the dense rainforest of Taï National Park was not the only reason for the trip. The other was to test a tracking collar in that remote wooded environment, where receiving clear radio signals could be a challenge. In this the team was also successful.
The researchers proved that a radio collar will work in the forest, so when they are able to secure one to a resident hippo it should help immensely in studying their movements, which will give conservationists valuable data to feed into their preservation project.
In studies of captive hippos, researchers have noticed a distinct female bias in the breeding population. Understanding how the genders are distributed in the wild will give a much clearer idea of what needs to be in place to ensure their survival where their natural environment is being eroded by encroaching agriculture and forestry.
To aid in this, detector dogs have been trained to identify pigmy hippo droppings, even in thick undergrowth. Dung samples can then be taken and analysed for DNA to identify gender, family groupings and overall hippo locations.
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The Ivory Coast’s Tai National Park is one of the last strongholds in the country, and possibly the continent, for the highly endangered pygmy hippo.
The aim of IBREAM’s work is to raise awareness of these unique animals and gain support from local people living in the environs of the forest park, as well as government authorities. Their hope is that better understanding of the lives of pigmy hippos, and education as to the advantages their existence can bring to the local and national community, will safeguard their future.
Images and video credit: IBREAM/Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques (CSRS)
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