What it is
The pygmy hippopotamus (Choeropsis liberiensis) is a small forest hippo with glossy dark skin, a small head and longer legs than its big relative. Its skin gives off a reddish fluid that protects it from the sun. The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists it as Endangered.
Range
Lowland forests and swamps of West Africa, mostly in Liberia, with smaller groups in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Côte d'Ivoire.
What happened
It lives alone or in pairs, rests in water or wet hollows by day and comes out at night to feed on leaves, ferns and fallen fruit along forest paths.
When / status
Endangered now, and rarely seen in the wild.
Human role
Logging, mining, farming in its forests and hunting for bushmeat threaten it.