LAST CHANCE TO DONATE!

Bowling For Rhinos is tomorrow night! I have to bring all the donations with me for them to 'count,' (toward our group's collective fundraising) so if you've been waiting to donate, wait no longer. It's tax-deductible, and it helps preserve rhino habitat in Indonesia and Africa, which helps many different species of wildlife. Go to the Bowling for Rhinos website for more information about it.

cottonmanifesto and I will bring our cameras and share the fun with you. (I considered setting up a private journal that only donors could see, but I thought it would be better to let everyone see, then maybe next time more people would be inspired to donate.) I don't really know what to expect, but I love candlepin bowling and it should be a lot of fun for a good cause with an awesome name.

(If it was paypal that was keeping you from donating, let me know, and next time I'll set up an alternate method for paypalophobes that will be as easy or nearly so.)

Daily Zoo Animal #24, Pygmy Hippopotamus

Pygmy Hippopotamus Hexaprotodon liberiensis

The pygmy hippopotamus is about a fifth of the mass of its huge cousin, the Nile hippo. A pygmy hippo is about the size of a small pig, on the average about 500 pounds. Pygmy hippos spend far less time in the water compared to Nile hippos, instead deftly and quietly moving through dense rainforests, feeding on fallen fruit and other vegetation. Also unlike Niles, pygmy hippos are solitary, coming together only to mate. They leave messages for one another by defecating and rapidly wagging their tails to disperse the fecal matter. Pygmy hippos are found in a relatively small range of jungle habitat in western Africa, the largest amount concentrated in Liberia. They are preyed upon by leopards and humans.

This is Cleopatra, a fifteen year old pygmy hippo who comes from the Toronto zoo. She is on loan to Zoo New England, and is on exhibit in the Tropical Forest building.

( pics from Toronto )

On this day in 365 Urban Species: Greenhouse slug.