Pygmy hippos kiss on the first date

Two endangered pygmy hippos have been introduced to each other for the first time at Taronga Zoo with hopes they will mate.

Fergus and Kambiri, two endangered pygmy hippos meeting each other for the first time at Taronga Zoo, Sydney. Source: AAP

It was love at first bite for pygmy hippos Fergus and Kambiri during a play date at Sydney's Taronga Zoo.

Both endangered animals knocked heads and bumped teeth on their initial romantic rendezvous as part of the zoo's conservation breeding program.

The usually solitary mammals native to West Africa have lived in exhibits separated by a fence but had never physically interacted.

But as Kambiri reaches mating age the zoo believed it was time the couple finally met.

"They were playful and excited by the interactions, playing in the water together and having a little chase around on land," keeper Johny Wade said in a statement on Friday.

The two hippos will return to their own habitats and be reintroduced daily over two weeks with hopes they will successfully breed.

Pygmy hippos are half as tall as their common counterparts and an estimated 3000 remain in the wild.