March 11, 2008
The endangered pygmy hippopotamus, a classic animal of cryptozoological discovery, has been snapped on camera. The pygmy hippo is rarely seen in the wild but was photographed in west Africa, in Liberia’s national park. It may signal a higher secretive population in its range than previously thought.
The pygmy hippo (Hexaprotodon liberiensis) is classified on the IUCN Red List as endangered with its rapid decline put down to habitat degradation and bushmeat
hunting.
There are only 3000 pygmy hippopotamus left in the wild in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Ivory Coast. This may be an over-estimate and there are severe concerns about their survival due to poaching threats.
The camera traps set up by “ZSL” team captured the rare pygmy hippo on film within just three days of an attempt in Liberia.
The cameras will stay in place monitoring in order to produce precise population estimation and a protection plan.
The researchers were delighted to find out that a population still persists there, but stay extremely concerned for the species, which continues to face major threats from poaching and habitat deprivation.
The pygmy hippo is an extraordinary, mysterious creature that has almost never been seen in the wild. The ZSL’s EDGE programme identified it as a species in need of urgent conservation attention and so we set out to previously war-torn Liberia, one of the species’ last refuges, to search for survivors.
We were delighted to discover that a population still persists there, but remain highly concerned for the species, which continues to face significant threats from poaching and habitat degradation.
Following two devastating civil wars, scientifically driven conservation action is essential to the continued survival of this highly threatened species. Dr. Ben Collen, leader of the Flora and Fauna International (FFI) and Liberia’s Forestry Development Agency (FDA) team.
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
Filed under Breaking News, Classic Animals of Discovery, Cryptotourism, CryptoZoo News, Cryptozoologists, Cryptozoology, Expedition Reports, Photos