HIDDEN HIPPOS In 2013 wildlife veterinarian Gabriella Gaby Flacke was hiking through the Taï Forest in West Africa It was hot and sticky Sometimes it felt too hot to breathe says Gaby She ducked under branches and dodged tangles of tree roots Monkeys looked down at her from the canopy Snakes dangled from trees like vines Spider webs large enough to catch basketballs stretched across her path A forest in Ivory Coast LOOK CLOSER The Taï Forest is located in a country called Ivory Coast or Côte d’Ivoire Pygmy hippos also live in Guinea Sierra Leone and Liberia all of which are in West Africa 4 R
Gaby was excited to see animals all around her What an incredible place where the wildlife comes to you she says However the one creature Gaby was searching for was nowhere in sight Where was the mysterious pygmy hippopotamus hiding Veterinarian Gabriella Gaby Flacke holds a baby pygmy hippo at a zoo I’ve loved hippos since I was a small child she says 5
SEARCH THE CONTINUES Gaby headed deeper into the forest hoping to find the elusive pygmy hippo Holding a tree branch for balance she crossed a small river There are waterfalls and rivers throughout the Taï Forest Pygmy hippos are semiaquatic living partly on land and partly in the water This is one of the reasons the forest is prime hippo habitat Pygmy hippos can hold their breath for up to 5 minutes 6
A pygmy hippo trap Up ahead Gaby saw a pygmy hippo trap along the bank of the river The trap a large boxlike structure made from sticks was set up by other members of Gaby’s team It’s used to safely catch the animals for a brief period in order to study them However the trap was empty Gaby checked a hidden camera set up near the trap The footage showed porcupines hogs and small antelope called duikers No signs of pygmy hippos though she says Would Gaby ever see one LOOK CLOSER Pygmy hippos are mammals Even though they look like large pigs their closest living relatives are whales and dolphins 7 R
