An adorable pygmy hippo has celebrated her first birthday by eating a cake made from vegetables.
Winnie was born to parents Nato and Sirana at Bristol Zoo Gardens last February, weighing just 4kg (9lb).
The youngster now tips the scales at 84kg (13 stone) and spends her days sleeping, eating and swimming round her heated pool.
She remains close to mother Sirana’s side but often enjoys a “good scratch” from her besotted keepers.
Pygmy hippos are threatened in the wild, where it is thought less than 2,000 survive, due to hunting and deforestation.
Sarah Gedman, overseer of mammals at Bristol Zoo, said Winnie is popular with visitors due to her sweet appearance.
“Winnie is a really sweet hippo, she’s the first youngster of Sirana our female,” she said. “She is very sweet natured. She likes to stay close to her mother but she is getting increasingly independent as she gets older.
“She was about 4kg when she was first born, which is about four bags of sugar, and now she’s up to 84kg so she’s grown quite a lot in the past year.
“She’s really popular with all our guests here at Bristol Zoo, a real favourite because she is so sweet.”
In the wild, females usually breed once every two years. A single youngster is born after a gestation period of about six months.
The baby weighs up to 6.2kg (13.6lb) and is unable to walk very far at first. The mother conceals it in thick cover and visits to feed it.
After three months, the baby is able to eat vegetation.
“Now she’s fully weaned so she’s eating solid food and she’s eating things like vegetables,” Miss Gedman added.
“We also give them a plant-based food a bit like hay. Out in the wild they would eat leaves and roots and shoots as well.”
Pygmy hippos are much smaller than the common hippopotamus, with proportionally longer legs, a smaller head, less prominent eyes, and ears more towards the side of the head.
Bristol Zoological Society is part of the European breeding programme that is maintaining a pygmy hippo population to ensure the survival of the endangered species.
(Press Association)
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Happy Birthday veggie cake for pygmy hippo Winnie
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