Custody of the dwarf hippo Eva

In December 2023, Honorary Consul of South Africa Sergey Mazurkevich took custody of the pygmy hippopotamus Eva, who lives in the Yekaterinburg Zoo. In the future, with the assistance of the South African Embassy in Russia, it is planned to bring a male pygmy hippopotamus for Eva, thereby establishing cooperation between the Yekaterinburg Zoo and the zoos of South Africa.

      Eva was born on December 31, 2012 at Edinburgh Zoo (Scotland). She lived with her parents for a year, after which she went to the Urals, to the Yekaterinburg Zoo. Eva has a playful disposition, likes to eat, play with a ball in the pool, and, of course, sleep under the mat. 

      She covers herself with a rug: she spreads it out on the water in the pool and dives under it many times, creating a shelter for a relaxing holiday. For lunch, he likes carrots, pumpkin, apples and peanuts the most.

      In general, pygmy hippos spend more time on land than ordinary ones, but also depend on the availability of reservoirs. Their skin requires mandatory regular baths. During the day, hippos lie in the water, at night they go out to feed. The pygmy hippopotamus feeds on a variety of vegetation that it finds on the shores of reservoirs. Unlike their large counterparts, they do not eat animal food.

      Pygmy hippos are endangered and listed in the Red Book as an “endangered species”.