MOSCOW, August 17. /TASS/. A hippopotamus has arrived in the Moscow Zoo for the first time in 40 years. Visitors will have a chance to see the three-year-old female pygmy hippo named Olivia starting from August 18 in the African Animals pavilion, Moscow’s administration said on its website.

"The three-year-old female weighs 200 kg and stands 75 cm high at the shoulder. The exotic animal was delivered to Moscow from small Swedish zoo Eskilstuna a few weeks ago," the report says.

Adult pygmy hippos reach 80cm high at the shoulder, are two meters in length and weigh about 250kg. The average lifespan is 35 years. Pygmy hippopotamuses are native to Africa and can be found in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Cote d’Ivoire.

Hyppos lived in Moscow’s zoo in the 20th century. The first two animals arrived there in the 1930s and in 1943 a baby hippo was born, which was the first time in the Moscow Zoo’s history and a rare case worldwide. The animals lived in the zoo until the 1980s, and in 1985 the hippo pavilion was replaced with the Pinniped Point exhibit.