Pygmy hippos, which look like miniature versions of the common hippopotamus, are believed to have been wiped out due to Liberia's past two civil wars, and the illegal logging and poaching that became rampant afterwards.

However, a team led by the Zoological Society of London has travelled recently to Liberia and were able to capture on film pygmy hippos in the wild that confirms the mammal's rather high survivability rate.

What they did was set up hidden camera at the species' natural of habitat in Upper Guinean forest. This area covers parts of Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea.

Three days after that, the team were amazed to see the rare pygmy hippos. Despite this, the team cautioned that the mammals are not out of danger especially now that only 10% of the original Upper Guinean forest remains.

They added that what needs to be done is  to control deforestation and bushmeat hunters.