Liberia's pygmy hippos survive two civil wars

Yahoo News 9 Mar 08;

Rare pygmy hippos are surviving hidden in Liberia's forests against all the odds, despite two civil wars that have ravaged their habitat, British scientists said on Monday.

The creatures, which are almost never seen in the wild, were spotted in Liberia' Sapo National Park using special camera traps.

The West African country is one of the last refuges of the endangered pygmy hippopotamus but conservationists had feared recent forest destruction and poaching might have wiped them out.

In fact, a team led by Ben Collen of the Zoological Society of London recorded images of pygmy hippos just three days after setting up their camera traps among the trees.

"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," Collen said in a statement.

The animals -- whose closest living relatives, besides the common hippopotamus, are whales -- hide themselves away in the rapidly shrinking Upper Guinean forest ecosystem.

The forest has been hit by unsustainable logging and mining operations, which were especially devastating during the civil wars. Pygmy hippos are also targeted by bushmeat hunters.

Only 10 percent of the original Upper Guinean forest is left, of which Liberia accounts for about 40 percent.

(Reporting by Ben Hirschler)