Photo: Kate Geraghty

Let me introduce you a little lady, Monifa, whose name means "I am lucky" in Nigeria, and she really is lucky indeed. She was born three weeks ago after a difficult breach birth. She seemed condamned to death weighing less than 4 kg. So zookeepers Renae Zammit and Tracy Roberts spent a fortnight sleeping with and hand-feeding Monifa from a teated syringe until she was nursed to full health. Morifa is a pigmy hippo a critical endangered species that lives in the jungles of equatorial Africa and full growth is just one fifth of normal hippos. Pigmy Hippos are almost extinct in the wild so even the birth of a cub in captivity is a great help in the survival of the species. Earlier this year we've already spoken about Pigmy Hippos when some researchers managed to caught on video a Pigmy Hippo in the wild proving that they're not yet extinct.


Photo: Kate Geraghty

Photo: Kate Geraghty

Photo: Kate Geraghty

Photo: Kate Geraghty

Photo: Kate Geraghty

Photo: Kate Geraghty

Photo: Kate Geraghty

Photo: AP