Hippopotamus

Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Artiodactyla Family: Hippopotamidae Genus: Hippopotamus Species: H. amphibious Conservation Status: Low Risk

A massive resident of the Serengeti rivers, hippopotamus can weight up to 3.2 tonnes. The peaceful appearance of these plant-eaters is deceitful, as hippos are very dangerous animals, responsible for many human deaths in Africa.

Averaging 1.5 metres (5 ft) tall at the shoulder and weighting from 1,500 kg to 3,200, they are -together with the White Rhinoceros-, the next largest land animal after the elephant. Male hippos appear to continue growing throughout their lives, whereas the females reach a maximum weight at around the age of 25. Females are smaller than their male counterparts, and normally weigh no more than 1,500 kg. The value given above of 3,200 kg is often quoted as being the upper limit of weight for a male hippo. However, larger specimens than this have been documented, including one of which weighed almost five tonnes. Even though they are a bulky animal, hippopotamuses can run faster than a human on land. There are estimates of its actual running speed varying from 30 km/h (18 mph) to 40 km/h (25 mph), or even 48 km/h (30 mph). The hippo can maintain these higher estimates for only a few hundred yards.

The gregarious hippo lives in groups of up to 40 animals, called a pod, herd, school or bloat. A male hippo is known as a bull, a female, a cow, and a baby, a calf. A hippo's lifespan is typically 40 to 50 years. Female hippos will reach sexual maturity at 5 to 6 years, and have a gestation period of 8 months.

The eyes, ears, and nostrils of the hippo are placed high on the roof of the skull. This allows them to spend most of the day with the majority of their body submerged in the waters of tropical rivers to stay cool and prevent sunburn. For additional protection from the sun, their skin secretes a natural sunscreen substance which is red colored. This secretion is sometimes referred to as "blood sweat," but it is not actually blood, nor sweat. This secretion starts out colorless, turns red-orange within minutes, eventually becoming brown.

Hippos are highly territorial; a male hippo often marks his territory along a riverbank from which to draw in a harem of females, while defending it against other males. Male hippos challenge one another with threatening gapes. Their canine teeth are 50 cm (20 inches) long, and it uses its head as a battering ram, especially against rival males while fighting over territory. Since their habitat is often encroached upon by farmers and tourists, and because they are so territorial, the hippopotamus is one of the most dangerous animals in Africa.

Hippos are usually found in shallow water, and rarely come out of that depth. Most hippos that look as though they are floating are in fact standing or lying on the bottom. They come out onto land in the early evening and then through the night to graze, preferring soft, short grass and fallen fruit, consuming as much as 50 kg (110 lb) of vegetation per day. They have been known to occasionally scavenge meat from animals found near their range, but hippos are not carnivorous in any real sense.

Adult hippos are not generally buoyant. When in deep water, they usually propel themselves by leaps, pushing off from the bottom. They have been observed to move at 8km/h in water. Young hippos are buoyant and more often move by swimming, propelling themselves with kicks of their back legs. One hippo calf survived after being pushed out to sea during the tsunami generated by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and was rescued on a nearby island.

Baby hippos are born underwater at a weight between 60 to 110 pounds and must swim to the surface in order to take their first breath. The young often rest on their mothers' backs when in water that is too deep for them, and swim underwater in order to suckle.

With excerpts from Wikipedia's Hippopotamus page. Photo by Derek Keats, displayed under a Creative Commons Licence.

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