Editing Pygmy hippopotamus (section)

== Behavior ==
[[File:Pygmyhippopotamus-uenozoo2008.ogv|thumb|(video) Bathing in the [[Ueno Zoo]], [[Tokyo]], Japan]]
The behavior of the pygmy hippopotamus differs from the common hippo in many ways. Much of its behavior is more similar to that of a [[tapir]], though this is an effect of [[convergent evolution]].<ref name="Robinson" /> While the common hippopotamus is gregarious, pygmy hippos live either alone or in small groups, typically a mated pair or a mother and calf. Pygmy hippos tend to ignore each other rather than fight when they meet. Field studies have estimated that male pygmy hippos range over {{convert|1.85|km2|acre|abbr=on}}, while the range of a female is {{convert|0.4|to(-)|0.6|km2|acre|-1|abbr=on}}.<ref name="The Hippos" />[[File:Pygmy hippos, Singapore Zoo.JPG|thumb|Two dive in water at [[Singapore Zoo]], [[Singapore]]|left]]Pygmy hippos spend most of the day hidden in rivers. They will rest in the same spot for several days in a row, before moving to a new spot. At least some pygmy hippos make use of dens or [[burrow]]s that form in river banks. It is unknown if the pygmy hippos help create these dens, or how common it is to use them. Though a pygmy hippopotamus has never been observed burrowing, other [[artiodactyls]], such as [[warthog]]s, are burrowers.<ref name="The Hippos" />

=== Diet ===
Like the common hippopotamus, the pygmy hippopotamus emerges from the water at dusk to feed. It relies on game trails to travel through dense forest vegetation. It marks trails by vigorously waving its tail while defecating to further spread its feces. The pygmy hippopotamus spends about six hours a day foraging for food.<ref name="The Hippos" />

[[File:Pigmy Hippo 037.jpg|thumb|Eating a vegetable]]
Pygmy hippos are [[herbivore|herbivorous]]. They do not eat aquatic vegetation to a significant extent and rarely eat grass because it is uncommon in the thick forests they inhabit. The bulk of a pygmy hippo's diet consists of [[herb]]s, [[fern]]s, [[dicotyledons|broad-leaved plants]], [[Herbaceous plant|herbaceous]] [[Shoot (botany)|shoot]]s, [[forb]]s, [[sedge]]s and [[fruit]]s that have fallen to the forest floor.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Hexaprotodon_liberiensis/ | title=Hexaprotodon liberiensis (Madagascan pygmy hippopotamus) | website=[[Animal Diversity Web]] }}</ref> The wide variety of plants pygmy hippos have been observed eating suggests that they will eat any plants available. This diet is of higher quality than that of the common hippopotamus.<ref name="The Hippos" />

=== Reproduction ===
[[File:Pygmy Hippopotamus with the young.jpg|thumb|Baby stands near its parent in the [[Jihlava Zoo]], Czechia]]
A study of [[breeding in the wild|breeding]] behavior in the wild has never been conducted; the artificial conditions of captivity may cause the observed behavior of pygmy hippos in zoos to differ from natural conditions. [[Sexual maturity]] for the pygmy hippopotamus occurs between three and five years of age.<ref name="Robinson" /> The youngest reported age for giving birth is a pygmy hippopotamus in the [[Zoo Basel]], Switzerland which bore a calf at three years and three months.<ref name="The Hippos" /> The [[oestrus cycle]] of a female pygmy hippopotamus lasts an average of 35.5 days, with the oestrus itself lasting between 24 and 48&nbsp;hours.<ref name="Redlist" /><ref name="Distort" />

pygmy hippopotamuses consort for mating, but the duration of the relationship is unknown. In zoos they breed as [[monogamy in animals|monogamous pairs]]. [[copulation (zoology)|Copulation]] can take place on land or in the water, and a pair will mate one to four times during an oestrus period. In captivity, pygmy hippos have been conceived and born in all months of the year.<ref name="Robinson" /> The gestation period ranges from 190 to 210 days, and usually a single young is born, though twins are known to occur.<ref name="The Hippos" />

[[File:Pygmy-Hippopotamus-Lisbon-zoo.jpg|thumb|Mother and child taking a bath at Lisbon Zoo|left]]
The common hippopotamus gives birth and mates only in the water, but pygmy hippopotamuses mate and give birth on both land and water. Young pygmy hippos can swim almost immediately. At birth, pygmy hippos weigh 4.5–6.2&nbsp;kg (9.9–13.7&nbsp;lb) with males weighing about 0.25&nbsp;kg (0.55&nbsp;lb) more than females. Pygmy hippos are fully [[wean]]ed between six and eight months of age; before weaning they do not accompany their mother when she leaves the water to forage, but instead hide in the water by themselves. The mother returns to the hiding spot about three times a day and calls out for the calf to suckle. Suckling occurs with the mother lying on her side.<ref name="The Hippos" />

=== Temperament ===
Although not considered dangerous to humans and generally docile, pygmy hippopotamuses can be highly aggressive at times. Although there have been no human deaths associated with pygmy hippos, there have been several attacks - while most of these were provoked by human behaviour, several have had no apparent cause.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Álvarez |first=Juan |date=2023-02-05 |title=Are Pygmy Hippos Aggressive? Are Dangerous as The Common? |url=https://wwwildnature.com/are-pygmy-hippos-aggressive/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230518163411/https://wwwildnature.com/are-pygmy-hippos-aggressive/ |archive-date=2023-05-18 |access-date=2023-05-18 |website=WWWILDNATURE |language=en-US}}</ref>