Unlike common hippos, which live in large groups and spend most of their time in open rivers and lakes, pygmy hippos are mostly solitary and love dense forest. They are very shy and hard to spot. Most people in Guinea have never seen one in the wild, even though the animals live in their country.
Pygmy hippos have a special adaptation for living in water: their skin produces an oily, pinkish liquid that acts like a natural sunscreen and keeps their skin moist. This means they do not need to stay underwater during the hottest part of the day the way common hippos do.
At night, pygmy hippos come out to feed on leaves, roots, fruit and grasses on the forest floor. Their small size helps them move quietly through thick vegetation. Their feet have slight webbing between the toes to help them walk on slippery river mud.
Pygmy hippos are classified as endangered, which means there are not very many of them left. Guinea has some of the most important forest habitat for this species in West Africa, making it a very special place for these rare animals.