Now, I know that I usually write about cooking, or spices, or sneak a short film script in here every so often - but don't panic, this hub does not include a recipe for baby pygmy hippo steaks - and no animals were harmed during the writing of this article.

What it is is this : I have written a screenplay called "Brian and the River Horse" in which a baby pygmy hippo is kidnapped by six-year old Brian as he attempts to come to terms with the tragedy that has hit his family. Amber, the baby hippo in my story, is indeed special as she is integral to the plot. During the course of writing the screenplay I researched pygmy hippos and have learned just how special - and rare - they are.

This article is a result of that research.

ANYWAY - the pygmy hippo is much rarer than the better known common-hippo, and its range is restricted to one or two places in West Africa. Although endangered in the wild, the pygmy hippo does breed well in zoos.

A newborn pygmy hippo is about as big as a human baby, at 21 inches. There are a few dozen in Europe, bred in a special program to boost their numbers.

There are about 3,000 in the world altogether, mainly in west African countries such as Sierra Leone, Guinea Bissau and Liberia. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) have announced that pygmy hippos have already disappeared from Nigeria.

Pygmy hippopotamuses, (or hippopotami), unlike the larger hippos, are solitary by nature, except during reproduction season. They do not live in herds and the females care for their young alone. Pygmy hippos eat alfalfa, carrots, apples and all sorts of vegetables. NOT ice-cream and sugar-free lollipops fed to Amber by Brian in my screenplay, nor the mint humbugs that the old ladies in the hospital give to Amber as they attempt to get her out of the ward without the nurses seeing her !

Captive, pygmy hippos also enjoy grainy feed which is nutrionally balanced especially for their needs. The European breeding program for pygmy hippos started in the early 90s and byt the summer of 2007 there had been 47 males and 66 females calves born under the auspices of this program.

Pygmy hippos need to keep their skin nice and moist and so, in 2005, the keepers at London Zoo installed showers for their resident hippos Bug and Nicola.

Pygmy hippo skin gets very dry and cracked during the cold winter months but the hippos would not swim in their outside pool if the temperature fell below 58 degrees and it was difficult to ensure that their skin wet and lubricated. Hence the luxury of indoor showers which are laser-activated so all the hippos have to do is walk up to them and the shower water starts flowing and their skin is kept beautifully smooth and moist.

The keepers describe the hippos as both demanding and fantastically rewarding animals full of character. They (the hippos, and maybe the keepers) like to play empty beer kegs.  

Although the theme of my screenplay is how a small child copes with the changing dynamics within a family faced with tragedy it is not a tragic story . It is about the adventure that the boy sets himself in the heroic belief that he can cure the problem if only he can get the baby hippo from the zoo to his mum at home - and then into the hospital when she is urgently admitted.

It was very satisfying to have to research the pygmy hippo for this screenplay !

"Brian and the River Horse" and my other screen plays are available on my screenplay writing site : "Screenplay Writer"