Pygmy Hippos Essay

Big rainforests in West Africa are being cut down. These rainforests are inhabited by small hippos, also known as the Pygmy Hippos. This tiny hippo is a symbol of the West African forest. It is part of West Africa’s culture which is something we can’t let go extinct. These little hippos are thought to have found their way through the forest with the help of a glowing diamond at night. It is believed that if you catch one at night you may steal their diamond.
Pygmy hippos mostly confine in Liberia’s rainforest. For the past century, Liberia has been an unstable country. Since 1980, Liberia has been in a state of civil war. It was resolved, when in 2003, the president stepped down, and the country elected a female Head of State. Currently, although
As mentioned previously, the country was in conflict through the last half century, and it has used timber logging as its main political and financial pawn. Thus, the forests of Liberia are slowly declining. Patches of kilometer wide land are seen bare and dry, after deforestation has occurred. This has caused sparse habitats for the animals of the Liberian forests, which has caused less available resources and they are more vulnerable to predators. Although both the cutting down of trees and the bushmeat trade is illegal, both are still in major play. Especially in the local cities, pygmy hippo meat is popular since it is more palatable than its cousin, the common hippo. The hunters aren’t merciful either, they are said to kill any animal they see to sell it as bushmeat (Look). The combination of country conflict and illegal trade has caused increased decline of the species. Currently, there are only around 3000 pygmy hippos left. These small numbers in populations lead to less genetic diversity since the places that house them only houses a few. This means that they are reproducing with close family members because of their small