Taronga Zoo's youngest pygmy hippo calf has made her public debut a month after her birth.
Kambiri, a Nigerian name meaning "allow me to join this family", was born on June 26 at 2.30am and weighed in at 5.3 kilograms.
Pygmy hippo calf Kambiri at Taronga Zoo.Credit: AFP/Rick Stevens
She has been growing fast, 300 grams per day, and weighed 16 kilograms as she walked around her enclosure today.
"She is quite cheeky ... she is also very shy as well, so visitors will have to be patient when they see her in the next couple of weeks," zoo spokeswoman Danielle McGill said.
Pygmy hippo calf Kambiri with her mother Petre at Taronga Zoo.Credit: AFP/Rick Stevens
Kambiri's first public appearance took its toll on her.
"She was out for about an hour and now she's completely exhausted," Ms McGill said.
"She's gone back to bed."
Kambiri is the second calf to be born to mother Petre and father Timmy.
Zookeepers are happy with the treatment she's receiving from her mum.
"Her mother is being an absolute wonderful mother. She's very content [and] guiding the calf around," Ms McGill said.
When Kambiri is older she will join the Australasian Breeding Program, which helps provide a safety net against extinction for pygmy hippos.
But for now Ms McGill says the zoo and its visitors will enjoy watching their youngest hippo grow.
"We'll just be watching her confidence grow each day," she said.
Pygmy hippos are a solitary forest-dwelling creature native to west Africa and little is known about them in the wild with the majority of research recorded about the species learnt from those cared for in zoos.
The World Conservation Union estimates that there are fewer than 3000 pygmy hippos remaining in the wild.
AAP, AP