People in the Legends

Hans Schomburgk

Explorer and animal collector
Germany
1880–1967

Hans Schomburgk was a German explorer and animal collector who traveled across Africa, capturing animals and making documentary films.

Commissioned by the German animal dealer Carl Hagenbeck, he searched Liberia in West Africa from around 1910 for the pygmy hippopotamus, then considered a phantom animal, and succeeded in capturing living animals. This made the pygmy hippo’s existence widely known.

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Pygmy Hippopotamus

A small hippopotamus of the forests of West Africa. Its skull was known in the 19th century, but its living form was a mystery and it was considered a "phantom animal" until one was captured in the early 20th century. It is one of the world's three great rare animals, with the okapi and giant panda.

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