Pygmy hippo Paul
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Pygmy hippo paul was born in the zoo of Berlin on May 17th, 2007 as the son of Debbie and Josef.
I met him first about three weeks later at my first visit to polar bear Knut and liked him at first sight. On dozens of following zoo visists I went to his enclosure and checked up on him. Beginning of May 2008 I was allowed to take a look backstage - thanks to his keeper Uwe Fritzmann. |
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Less than two weeks later, Paul moved to Bratislava. That was short before his first birthday, on May 13th 2008. I contacted that zoo and became his sponsor. His main sponsor is Aquapark near Bratislava, but the zoo didn't mind having an additional sponsor. |
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Since he is some sort of minor celebrity around here and there are other people interested in how he is doing, here's some information: Paul is doing great. He has a nice enclosure and a pool, his keepers love him and take good care of him. |
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In the enclosure right next to his are two female pygmy hippos, Diny and her two year old daughter Dida (Didas father Patrik died of old age in 2007). Diny is very dominant and regularly shows her teeth to Paul. Dida was the same at the beginning, but she is more calm now and young and playful. |
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The enclosures are separated by a fence, i.e. Paul and the two females can see and smell each other. I was in Bratislava (Slovakia) on November 19th, 2008, and visited him at the zoo. |
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The arrival at the zoo was very nice - we received a welcome bag with information about the zoo and nice promotional material, and also free entrance. At the enclosure I was even mentioned by name on a sign. |
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Only Paul was nowhere to be seen. In winter, his pool is empty and he is inside. I talked to his keeper, which was somewhat difficult, since she only spoke slovak (and I don't). But she understood that I am his sponsor and we were allowed to come inside. I could even go inside the enclosure and pet Paul. |
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Touching a pygmy hippo feels like a scratched plastik bucket which you just took out of the water.
I assume he didn't notice my touch, at least he didn't react at all. His dwelling in Bratislava is not as luxurious as in Berlin, but he is fine and seems to be happy. Unfortunately my camera didn't like the warm and steamy surrounding, but there are some photos at webshots and a small video on youtube. |
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On 12/18/2008, another male pygmy hippo - Paul's brother - was born in the Berlin Zoo and first presented to the public on 03/17/2009. (Photo from Nene's Zoo & Wildlife Journal.) |