The pygmy hippopotamus Choeropsis liberiensis is an Endangered species found only in the Upper Guinea rainforests of West Africa. Using a two-phase approach, with initial semi-structured interviews followed by more extensive questionnaires, we examined local residents' awareness of and attitudes towards the pygmy hippopotamus along the Moa River near Tiwai Island Wildlife Sanctuary in Sierra Leone. The interviews and questionnaires addressed human–hippopotamus interactions, local knowledge and awareness of pygmy hippopotamus ecology and behaviour, and public attitudes towards hippopotamus conservation. Overall, 22% of questionnaire respondents acknowledged benefits related to hippopotamus conservation; factors affecting the perception of benefits included age, livestock ownership, distance from Tiwai Island and exposure to conservation programmes. The results of this study could be used to inform the conservation of the pygmy hippopotamus and highlight the critical role of local support in the management of threatened species in biodiversity hotspots.

Conservation of a threatened species is reliant upon good quality monitoring information to provide population estimates and trends to inform management practices. Surveying to establish such data can be costly and difficult, particularly for cryptic species in forest habitats. We therefore used remotely triggered cameras to survey for the presence of the pygmy hippopotamus Choeropsis liberiensis in Sapo National Park in Liberia. In 1,247 trap days we obtained seven camera-trap photographs, the first photographic records of the species in Liberia. Habitat destruction, principally from illegal gold mining, is the greatest threat to the persistence of the pygmy hippopotamus within the Park. A range-wide survey of the pygmy hippopotamus is required to establish a robust baseline from which future conservation efforts can be developed. Understanding how this species is able to cope with the effects of habitat fragmentation across its range, and controlling commercial hunting, will dictate how it is able to survive the ongoing pressures of land conversion in West Africa.