Between about 1930 and 1960 a variety of small goats of the West African Dwarf group of breeds of West Africa were imported from zoos in Germany to the United States, to be exhibited in zoos or used as research animals.

[3]: 355  By the 1970s, two distinct types had developed: one broad, compact and solid like the original African stock, the other more delicate, much like a dairy goat in miniature.

[5]: 39  The latter became the Nigerian Dwarf, while the former became the American Pygmy, for which a breed society was established in 1975, and a herd book started in the same year.

[3]: 355 [5]: 39 In 2007 the conservation status of the American Pygmy was listed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations as "endangered".

[3]: 355 [5]: 40 The American Pygmy is small and stocky, with heavy bone: height at the withers is usually in the range 40 to 50 cm (16 to 20 in), with weights of the order of 25 to 40 kg (55 to 90 lb).