A male pygmy hippopotamus calf born on April 30 is now on display in Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium’s Lied Jungle.
Zoo visitors can see Silas from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily in the exhibits African rainforest. Silas’ first recorded weight was taken on May 2 at a mere 16.5 pounds. He currently tips the scale at 80 pounds. Full-grown pygmy hippos can weigh between 350 and 600 pounds and are about one-eighth to one-fifth the size of the common hippopotamus.
This is the first pygmy hippo calf that has been in a habitat in the Lied Jungle since 2015 and only the fourth since it opened in 1992.
Pygmy hippos are native to rainforests and swamplands in western Africa, primarily Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Ivory Coast.
The species is endangered with less than 2,500 remaining in the wild.