Boomworkers ventured to the zoo, on a mission to adopt a pet.
Taronga Zoo Field Trip
Boomworkers recently ventured to Taronga zoo, on a mission to adopt a pet.
The strict selection criteria for a pet included the ability to eat a human (in part as recognition of the vegetarians in the company) but most importantly was a species that was under threat or endangered.
The lucky creature chosen was the somewhat misproportioned Pygmy Hippopotamus.
The Pygmy Hippo was discovered only recently - in the mid 1800s. A shy and solitary animal, it lives in the swamps and forests of Sierra Leone, Liberia and Cote d'Ivore in Africa. It is smaller than the Common Hippo but not an exact copy. For it's size, the Pygmy Hippo has longer legs, a smaller head and a narrower mouth.
The survival of the Pygmy Hippo species in captivity is more assured than in the wild: the World Conservation Union estimates that there are less than 3,000 pygmy hippos remaining in the wild.
Pygmy hippos are primarily threatened by loss of habitat, as forests are logged and converted to farm land, and are also vulnerable to poaching, hunting, natural predators and war.
Apart from the obvious synergies between pygmy hippos and user-centred design and development, for every dollar Boomworks chip in the New South Wales State Government contribute another three dollars - all of which helps to keep our pygmy hippos off the street and in the swamps where they belong.
If you are interested in doing your part for the animals at large (or small), get in touch with Taronga Zoo and see how you can get involved.
Submitted by Grant on November 12, 2007. Posted in New At Boomworks
