Today we will talk about a chordate mammal called the “common hippopotamus” or “hippopotamus”.

What does a hippopotamus eat in the wild? What do they feed hippos in zoos and nurseries? What is this animal? What is the weight of a hippopotamus? First things first.

Are hippopotamus and hippopotamus the same thing?

Name "hippopotamus" came from Ancient Greece, which translated from the local language means “river horse”. This is how the animal was nicknamed for its cry, similar to that of a horse.

In our country it is customary to call it hippopotamus. This name comes from the Bible, it was the name of one of the many monsters described. Thus, hippopotamus and hippopotamus are one and the same animal.

Previously, pigs were considered closely related to the hippopotamus, but numerous studies showed in 2007 that a closer relative to the hippopotamus is the whale. Common characteristics of these animals:

• viviparity and feeding while in water;
• no sebaceous glands;
• special communication system;
• structure of reproductive organs.

Description of the animal and its characteristics

Its exterior cannot be confused with any other animal. The hippopotamus is recognizable at first sight. Its huge barrel-shaped body is somewhat similar to the body of a rhinoceros. The hippopotamus is right behind the elephant in body mass. It grows all its life, until the age of ten the female differs little from the male, but after this period the males begin to actively gain weight and become larger than the females.

The huge body of the hippopotamus stands on short limbs, because of this the animal practically rubs its belly on the ground. On each limb there are four fingers, between which there are membranes that allow the animal to swim excellently and not drown even in a swamp.

The weight of an adult female hippopotamus is from 1.3 to 1.5 tons, and the weight of a male hippopotamus is from 1.5 to 1.8 tons.

The animal's tail reaches a length of 56 centimeters, it is quite thick at the base and narrow at the tip. This tail structure allows the animal to mark territory by spraying its droppings over long distances and even onto the crowns of trees.

Massive hippopotamus head- a quarter of the animal’s total weight, which is almost a ton. The head in profile has a rectangular shape. The animal's ears are small, but they move very actively, the nostrils are wide and stick out, small eyes are protected by heavy eyelids.

The structure of a hippopotamus' muzzle allows it to dive into water and still breathe normally, see and hear everything. This is achieved due to the fact that the ears, nose and eyes of the animal are located on the same line.

One of the differences between a female and a male is that the male has small bumps near his nose. These are actually the fangs of a male. There are other differences, for example, the female is smaller than the male.

The hippopotamus's mouth is simply gigantic in size; it opens at an angle of 150 degrees. The width of animal jaws can reach 70 centimeters.

In the animal's mouth 36 teeth, which have yellow enamel and pronounced fangs. In total, on one animal jaw there is:

• molars - 6 pieces;
• premolar teeth - 6 pieces;
• fangs - 2 pieces;
• cutters - 4 pieces.

The male has clearly pronounced sharp fangs of the lower jaw, which are shaped like a sickle. Over time, the fangs gradually bend inward.

, the thickness of the skin reaches four centimeters. The color of the animal is mostly gray, but the belly and the area around the ears, as well as on the eyelids, have a pink tint.

The animal completely lacks sweat and sebaceous glands, but there are skin glands that are unique to hippopotamuses. From these glands, on a very hot day, a special secretion appears in the form of red mucus, which is an antiseptic and protects against the sun. This is what creates the impression that the animal is sweating and bleeding. But no, this secret helps the animal to heal wounds on the body that constantly appear, and this kind of sweat also helps to get rid of annoying insects.

Because of its gigantic size, the hippopotamus seems clumsy, but in fact this is absolutely not the case. It can reach speeds of up to 30 kilometers per hour. Due to the specifics of its breathing, the animal inhales only 406 times per minute, which is why it can easily stay under water for about ten minutes.

A characteristic feature of the hippopotamus is communication through shouting, which sounds more like a grunt or growl. Through such a specific neighing, the animal expresses emotions and communicates. The animal screams both on land and in the water.

Hippopotamus habitat

Hippopotamuses live in:

• Africa;
• Kenya;
• Zambia;
• Uganda, as well as other sub-Saharan countries.

The lifespan of an animal in the wild is no more than forty years, but in captivity a hippopotamus lives about fifty years. In one of the American zoos there was a unique case when a female hippopotamus lived exactly 60 years.

What do common hippos eat?

At all, hippopotamus - herbivore, but recent research suggests that animals have a tendency towards predation. The beast preys on other animals due to a lack of minerals. It is also not uncommon for hippos to eat carrion.

The diet of an ordinary hippopotamus consists of a large number of types of vegetation, but the animals do not eat aquatic plants. The hippopotamus eats ground grass entirely, right down to the root. One individual consumes up to seventy kilograms of all kinds of greens and plant foods per day.

The hippopotamus' intestine is about 60 meters long, so food is perfectly absorbed in it and thanks to this, the animal needs less food than, for example, the same elephant. Animals look for food for themselves, usually at night.

Hippopotamus: interesting facts

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09/12/2016 at 15:01 Moscow time 5 338

The hippopotamus animal, or as it is also called the hippopotamus, is a mammal belonging to the order Artiodactyla and belonging to the family “Hippopotamidae”.

The wild animal behaves quite aggressively towards humans; several dozen civilians are killed by hippopotamuses every year.

Appearance

The skin of the hippopotamus is brown, thickness - 4 cm, there is no vegetation except on the snout, there are short whiskers. The body weight of an adult reaches 3.5 - 4 tons.

But this is not the limit, according to some sources, hippopotamuses can weigh from 4200 - 4500 kg, although in fairness it should be noted that these sources do not provide concrete evidence, perhaps limited to only minor arguments.

The head of a hippopotamus weighs more than 900 kg, and its jaws have crushing strength from the point of view of biochemical engineering. In the mouth of a wild beast there are 36 sharp teeth, in each of the jaws there is:

• two fangs;
• four incisors;
• six preradicals;
• six molars;

The size of the hippopotamus tusks is admirable. The length of the fang reaches 55 cm, and the weight is about 3 kg. During life, male and female hippos weigh almost the same. When hippos reach approximately 10 years of age, the male begins to rapidly gain weight, thereby overtaking the weaker sex in the weight category.

Tusks, fangs and incisors of a hippopotamus.

The body length of an adult hippopotamus is 3 meters, height - 1.65 meters. The legs are extremely short; when walking or running, the belly can touch the base of the ground. The belly is barrel-shaped.

The hippopotamus's stomach has three chambers, with a capacity of more than 500 liters. The brain of a wild animal is large and poorly developed intellectually. At the moment, the number of individuals is about 125 - 150 thousand heads.

Habitat

The hippopotamus lives in the southern part of the African continent. But more recently, its range was much wider, it occupied territories of North Africa, such as:

1. Egypt
2. Morocco
3. Algeria

But centuries later, in the early Middle Ages, hippos ceased to exist in these territories.

Habitat

Hippopotamuses lead a flooded lifestyle. They prefer only fresh water bodies, but there are individuals who are not averse to spending time in the salty waters of the African continent.

They leave the pond only at night to eat, and return back after a five-hour lunch. They sleep on average 15 hours. All this time he is under water.

The hippopotamus floats to the surface during sleep in order to take another breath of air, and then sinks back to the bottom. The animal swims slowly, mainly prefers shallow bodies of water, and moves in the water with the help of powerful legs.

A hippopotamus cannot stay in the sun for a long time; evaporation of water from the body is five times higher than that of any other animal. If the hippopotamus cannot return to the pond in time, its skin may overheat and crack, thereby causing irreversible death.

Nutrition

As we already know, the hippopotamus has a very massive physique, and it needs to eat a lot. It can travel up to 30 km in search of food. The daily diet of a wild animal includes:

• grass;
• small reptiles;

It eats grass carefully, plucking it so that the roots remain intact. The mass of the hippopotamus does not allow it to hunt, since hunting requires good reaction, fast movement and skills. Our hero is not like that at all, so he eats everything that comes his way. We can definitely say that he is an omnivore.

Reproduction

Puberty in hippopotamuses occurs between the ages of 7 and 15, females and males between 6 and 14. The average age of puberty is 7.5 years. Mating takes place twice a season, in February and August.

There is one dominant male in the herd. During the mating season, males can enter into severe physical conflict, in which one will most likely die.

Hippopotamus with baby photo

A female hippopotamus carries a baby for 8 months. After birth, the female mother begins to teach the baby to swim. The baby feeds on mother's milk, which is very important; the baby suckles underwater. After giving birth, the next time the female can become pregnant is 18 months later.

Lifespan

The hippopotamus lives a short time compared to other artiodactyls. Lifespan does not exceed 42 years.

1. Hippos live much longer in zoos than in the wild. On average they live up to 52 years.
2. In the ancient culture of ancient Egypt, this animal played an important role. The powerful body of the hippopotamus made people fear and submit to it.
3. Many Athenian tribes consider it a totem animal, and hunting it is strictly prohibited.
4. In other tribes, they exterminate it for food.

Common hippopotamus or hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius)- semi-aquatic mammals from the hippopotamus family (Hippopotamidae), as well as the second largest land animal on the planet.

Description

The weight of adult individuals is 1300-3200 kg. Body length is 209-500 cm, including the tail - 35 cm. Height at the withers - 150-165 cm. Hippos have violet-gray or gray-green skin color, with brownish-pink areas around the eyes and ears. Their bodies are covered with a sparse amount of fine hair, with the exception of the head and tail. The outer layer of skin is extremely thin, making them vulnerable to injury during fighting.

Hippopotamuses lack sebaceous and sweat glands. Instead, the mucous glands secrete a thick, oily layer of red, pigmented fluid. For many years, this fluid was thought to be a mixture of sweat and blood. It is now known to be a mixture of hipposudoric and norhipposudoric acids. These compounds create a sunscreen effect by absorbing ultraviolet radiation from the sun and preventing the growth of pathogenic bacteria. Within a few minutes of exposure to sunlight on the animal's skin, the discharge changes from colorless to orange-red.

Bulky and barrel-shaped, hippos are seemingly clumsy on land and in water. However, their adaptation to life in a semi-aquatic environment allowed them to move quickly in water and on land. On the ground, they are capable of reaching speeds of up to 30 km/h and maintaining it for several hundred meters. In shallow water, their short legs provide powerful locomotion, and their webbed feet allow them to move along river bottoms with ease. The location of the eyes, ears, and nostrils high on the head allows hippos to remain under water most of the time, while breathing easily and controlling the environment around them. When fully submerged, the hippopotamus closes its nostrils and ears to prevent water from entering them. The jaws can open up to 150 degrees, revealing huge, sharp fangs and incisors. The canines grow up to 50 cm, and the incisors – up to 40 cm; the fangs are sharpened against each other while chewing grass.

Sexual dimorphism is present in hippopotamuses. Males usually weigh more than females (about 200 kg), but can grow to weigh several thousand kilograms. Males grow throughout their lives, while females stop growing at age 25. The maximum body length of males is about 505 cm, and females - about 345 cm. The largest male recorded in history weighed 4500 kg (Munich, Germany). In addition to their larger body size, males have much larger snouts with more developed jaws than females. The canines of males are twice as long as the canines of females.

Habitat

Hippos usually inhabit shallow lakes, rivers and swamps. Their depth should be about 2 meters, since the hippopotamus immerses its entire body in the water. During the daytime, herds of hippopotamuses prefer to sleep in shallow water, and sometimes in shallow water (in mud), while closely grouping with each other. It is in such waters that mating and childbirth take place. When it is not possible to be in shallow water, hippos move into the depths and leave only their nostrils on the surface of the water to be able to breathe. At sunset, hippos come out of the water onto the shore to feed and travel around a bit. As a rule, they go no further than 1 mile along a familiar path of thick grassy grazing pastures along the water's banks.

Habitat range

There are no published data on the specific size of territory occupied by hippopotamuses. It largely depends on the number of individuals in the herd, the proximity of water and pastures. They often rest in close quarters, resting their heads on their neighbor's back.

The historical and current habitat of hippopotamuses can be viewed and compared in the figure above.

Reproduction

Hippos are polygamous animals, meaning that one male can mate with multiple females in the same social group. Although the reproduction of these mammals is not strictly seasonal, it usually occurs during the dry season, from February to August, and the birth of cubs occurs during the rainy season, from October to April.

When searching for a mate, the dominant male wanders around resting areas or pastures and sniffs the tail of each female. The male behaves unusually submissively towards the female in order to avoid attack by the herd. The goal of a respectful male is to find a female ready to mate. After the male finds the desired female, courtship begins. He teases his chosen one, thereby luring her out of the herd. He then chases her into deeper waters until she gets angry and collides her jaws with him. The male subjugates the female and the process of copulation occurs, while her head is under water. It is not clear why, but her head should be under water. If the female tries to raise her head to breathe in air, the male, as a rule, forces her to lower her head down. During mating, males make a hoarse signal sound, which indicates success. Although they can copulate year-round, the most common period is from February to August. Gestation lasts almost a year, 324 days, and one calf is born. It is not weaned from mother's milk for about a year, and maturity occurs at 3.5 years.

Before giving birth, pregnant females become very aggressive and defend themselves against anyone who comes across her. They are isolated on land or in shallow water and return to the herd 2 weeks after giving birth. At birth, the cubs weigh from 22 to 55 kg. Mother and calf have a close bond. They wash each other and hug each other, presumably showing affection for each other. Cubs are adapted to feed on mother's milk underwater: the ears and nostrils close at the moment of sucking, when the mother's nipple is between the tongue and the upper jaw. Because hippos live in a social family environment, males are very protective of females and calves, and will often attack anything that poses a threat to them.

Life cycle

The average lifespan is about 55 years in captivity and in. The oldest hippopotamus lived more than 61 years in captivity. Infant mortality is low – 0.01 deaths per year

Behavior

Hippos are very social animals, living in groups of 20-100 individuals. They lead a sedentary lifestyle, resting most of the day, and at dusk they leave their pools and go to the pasture. Most activity occurs at night. Females are the leaders of the herd and control the calm in the pools during rest. Males rest along the outer banks of the water, thereby protecting females and cubs. At the age of 7, males begin to compete for dominance. This is expressed by yawning, roaring, splashing manure and clenching the jaws.

Dominant males are very intolerant of young males who challenge them. Adult males tend to severely injure and even kill young males during such fights. Territorial behavior is characterized by wheezing, honking, and dung showers. When approaching new territory, they turn the back of their body towards that location and mark the territory. They swing their tails from side to side and scatter their excrement around unfamiliar terrain. Males often emerge from the water to mark shorelines and grasslands where they feed.

The protection of their territories occurs during the dry period, when living conditions become more saturated and resources are limited. Defensive signs such as yawning, jaw clenching and fang ringing are designed to protect the herd from predators and to threaten other males.

Connection

As already written above, hippos are social animals and therefore have a wide range of above-water and underwater sounds. The signal call made by a hippopotamus underwater is the most common type of communication in a herd to communicate a threat. This hum can reach up to 115 decibels, which is equivalent to the sound of strong thunder. Vocalizations can be made on land and water, and accordingly, audibility is good in both places. This is the only case of underwater communication in mammals. The hippopotamus is able to make sounds when only its nostrils remain above the surface of the water. This happens because the hippopotamus has a thick layer of fat around the larynx, so at the moment of vocalization, the sound spreads throughout the entire volume of water.

Nutrition

Hippos leave their waters at dusk and move to nearby grassy areas. They prefer to be close to water, however, if there is a lack of food, they can move several kilometers away. Grazing lasts for 4-5 hours every night. Their diet mainly consists of small shoots, grass and reeds. They do not dig up roots or fruit. However, hippos will consume many other types of plants if they are nearby.

The muscular lips, about 50 cm wide, are ideal for pulling grass. Hippos do not use their teeth to chew food; instead, they tear up grass to prevent loss. While their sedentary lifestyle allows for a simple diet, they are known to consume huge amounts of food each evening, 1-1.5% of their body weight (about 40 kg on average). Hippos enter and exit the water in the same place; they return from pastures before dawn. Sometimes, if a hippopotamus has gone too far from water, it will look for a body of water nearby so it can rest before the next nightfall. Some hippos have been spotted eating dead animals near their ponds. However, their stomachs are not designed to digest meat. It is possible that carnivorous behavior is a consequence of disease or malnutrition.

Threats

Sometimes, hyenas and crocodiles can hunt young hippos. Other than humans, there are no known threats to adult hippos.

Role in the ecosystem

Thanks to their massive build, hippos occupy an important place in the ecosystem. Everyday existence in water and on land creates an ideal habitat for small organisms. When a hippopotamus goes to graze, it tramples down a path, which during the rainy season will serve as a lagoon or side pool and allow small fish to protect themselves during drought.

Security status

Over the past 10 years, the hippo population has decreased by 7-20%. It has been recorded that between 125,000 and 148,000 individuals remain in the 29 countries within its geographic range. Although poaching is illegal, it remains the leading cause of death for these animals. The hippos that inhabit unprotected lands suffer the most from poaching. Habitat loss is another factor in the decline of hippopotamus populations. Hippos depend on freshwater bodies, which makes them vulnerable to droughts, agricultural and industrial production, and rerouting of natural water flows. There are conservation measures for the hippopotamus population aimed at protecting natural habitats. Countries where there is a high population of hippopotamuses have strict regulations prohibiting hunting. The habitats of hippopotamuses, namely national parks, nature reserves, and museum reserves, are carefully protected.

Subspecies

The common hippopotamus is a member of the genus Hippopotamus. belongs to another genus - pygmy hippopotamuses.

Based on the morphological differences in skulls and the diversity of habitats, five subspecies of hippopotamuses are distinguished:

• a. Amphibius– spread from Egypt, where it is now considered extinct, south to the Nile River in Tanzania and Mozambique;
• a. Kiboko- The subspecies is found in Kenya, the African Great Lakes region and Somalia in the Horn of Africa. Representatives of this subspecies have wider nasal bones and hollower interorbital areas.
• a. Capensis– distributed from Zambia to South Africa. They have the most flattened skulls of all subspecies.
• a. Tschadensis- lives throughout West Africa. The body is shorter and the muzzle is wider.
• a. Constrictus- can be found in Angola, the south of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Namibia. Has a deeper orbital constriction.

Video

Appearances, as often happens, can be very deceiving. Looking at the hippos lying motionless in the water, you might think that these clumsy, lazy and clumsy fat men are only capable of eating and sleeping. In fact, they swim and dive beautifully, run quite fast, and are even capable of very selflessly defending their rights.

river horse

The scientific name of the genus of hippopotamuses, or hippopotamuses (Hippopotamidae), comes from the Greek words “hippos” = horse and “potamos” = river. Today, these giants of the family of non-ruminant artiodactyl mammals can only be found in Equatorial Africa. Although they were once also habitual inhabitants of the territory of modern Europe and Asia.

The first species of hippopotamus appeared 54 million years ago during the Tertiary period of the Cenozoic era. They, like all other ungulates, descended from the ancient omnivorous animal Condylarthra, although by the end of this historical period they survived exclusively on the Dark Continent. Back in the 19th century, these giants, second in weight only to the elephant, were found almost everywhere in Africa.

But the thirst of people to obtain strong and elastic skin, tasty gourmet meat and strong fangs served as a mass destruction of hippopotamuses, making them a profitable object of hunting, bringing very good income. Now a significant part of the population lives in the territories of national reserves and is under their protection.

Hippopotamuses are massive animals with a barrel-shaped body and short legs, the toes of which are connected by swimming membranes. Males are somewhat heavier than females and weigh about 2.5 tons, and the weight of especially large males can reach up to 3.5 x 4 tons. The body length is about 3.5 m. The girth of the hippopotamus is almost equal to its length. Life expectancy is on average 30×40 years. However, hippos living in captivity can be close to 50 years old. Being very unpretentious in food, hippos are content with sun-scorched grass, and therefore they do not need to move away from their daytime resting places, although there are cases where hippos have gone tens of kilometers in search of pastures.

Hippos are considered one of the most dangerous animals in Africa, and for good reason. Often, their raids seriously damage crops, and sometimes even people who have injured the hippopotamus or invaded its domain. An angry animal can kill a person in a matter of minutes by trampling him with his feet or inflicting fatal wounds on him with his fangs. In the water, the hippopotamus is no less strong - it is capable of turning over a medium-sized sailing ship, and, easily biting through the hull of a boat with its huge fangs, literally turning it into a sieve.

Hippopotamuses have a huge mouth with heavy jaws, each of which is represented by 2 canines, 4 incisors and 14 molars. The largest teeth are fangs (the weight of one can reach up to 3 kg). Fangs and incisors, which have a sharp edge, grow throughout life, self-sharpening thanks to a special bite. The Belgian Museum of Natural History houses a 64.5 cm long hippopotamus tusk.

The head, weighing about 900 kg, has a quadrangular shape. The ears, nostrils and eyes are raised above the line of the upper part of the muzzle, which allows the animal to see, hear and breathe even while completely immersed in water.

Problem skin

Hippopotamuses have copper-brown skin and are almost naked. Very durable and thick, reaching up to 6 cm on the sides, it is at the same time incredibly sensitive to sunlight. Disturbed and forced to come ashore in broad daylight, the hippopotamus appears bloodied, its entire body covered with drops of colored liquid. This feature gave rise to the legend of the “blood sweat” of hippos. In fact, in the skin of animals there are many special glands that secrete a special reddish secretion, which is a protective lubricant that protects the animal’s skin from drying out and cracking when exposed to ultraviolet rays.

Mating games

During the mating season, male hippos are very aggressive. The showdown begins with a completely unesthetic ritual. It looks like this. Two males stand with their backs to each other and begin to defecate vigorously, while at the same time strongly rotating their propeller tails, scattering their droppings in all directions. The winner is the male who has “fertilized” the territory most abundantly. Adult males mark their territories using the same method.

If it is not possible to identify the strongest in this way, hippos begin a psychological attack - they open their huge mouths and show yellow fangs, after which they enter into battle. Hippopotamus teeth are a formidable weapon. With them, enraged giants inflict mortal wounds on each other.

Family matters

A herd of hippopotamuses, consisting of one male and 10 x 20 females with cubs, lives in a strictly defined territory. Adult males who do not have “harems” live separately. And by the age of 7-9, having reached puberty, they start families.

Mating usually takes place in water. Pregnancy lasts 8 months. Sensing the approach of childbirth, the hippopotamus chooses a quiet place in shallow water and gives birth to one calf. Born in water, they first learn to swim and only then to walk. A newborn weighs about 40 x 45 kg.

Fights without rules

The most dangerous hippos are those who protect their only cub. Suspecting the slightest danger, the female rushes towards the enemy, sweeping away everything in her path, and fights to the last. On land, the speed of an angry female hippopotamus can reach 35 km/h.

Hippos are excellent swimmers and divers, capable of staying under water for two or more minutes and at the same time reaching speeds along the bottom of up to 13 km/h. When immersed in water, the nostrils of hippopotamuses automatically close, and when they emerge, they immediately open, the forcefully exhaled air produces a trumpet sound, and the condensed steam forms “fountains.”

Always on the alert

Recent studies have shown that hippos, having a fairly rich sound “repertoire,” communicate equally well with each other both on land and under water. Their booming roar carries for many kilometers and sometimes reaches a power of 110 decibels. But, in addition, they can produce ultrasounds and sounds of very low frequencies. The perception of underwater sound signals is carried out due to the vibration of certain areas of the jaw bones, from which they are transmitted through sensitive receptors of the cranial bones to the inner ear, and from there to the auditory areas of the brain. On land, sound signals traveling through the air are transmitted directly through the hearing aid of the ear. This stereo ability allows hippos, regardless of their location, to always hear sounds and noises that are vital for them, as well as clearly navigate in space and assess the situation without leaving the saving coolness of water or silt.

Pygmy hippopotamus
Pygmy, or Liberian, hippopotamuses (Choeropsis liberiensis) are found in the forest rivers of Sierra Leone and Liberia in western Africa. Thought to have become extinct long ago, they were unexpectedly found in the Liberian forests in the mid-19th century. The height of the pygmy hippopotamus at the withers is 75 x 90 cm, body length about 180 cm, weight 180 kg. Information about their life in nature is very scarce. What is known is that, unlike ordinary hippopotamuses, they spend most of their time on land. They walk along the paths extremely quietly and carefully, silently descending into the water. They make their way to the river in different ways, so it is very difficult to track them down. They live in pairs. Pregnancy in a female lasts 199 days, the weight of newborn hippos is from 4.5 to 6 kg. In captivity, these animals live up to 35 years.

Hippopotamus- a large herbivorous mammal that spends most of its time in water. Animals live in fresh water bodies; only occasionally hippos can be found in salty sea water.

Another name for hippopotamus is hippopotamus. Animals, along with, occupy second place after in weight: some individuals can reach 4 tons or more.

Currently hippopotamuses: The hippopotamus will not tolerate cold or tropical climates.

This report is devoted to a description of hippopotamuses, their way of life and behavioral characteristics.

Appearance

At the beginning of the message it was already mentioned that hippos are one of the largest land animals. Usually their weight is 2-3 tons, but can exceed 4 tons. Moreover, the length of adult hippos can be more than 5 meters! The hippo's tail alone is almost 60 cm long.

Hippos have a characteristic appearance: a very wide muzzle with small eyes and ears, as well as large nostrils, a barrel-shaped body and very short legs. The skin of hippopotamuses is very thick, grayish-brown, without hair.

Hippopotamus habitats

Hippos vitally need water, in which they spend most of the daylight hours, so animals settle where there is fresh water. A desert or tropical forest, for example, is not suitable for hippos. Hippos live in the savannah. If living conditions deteriorate (it happens that water bodies dry up), hippos leave in search of a new shelter.

Occasionally it happens that a hippopotamus swims a considerable distance and ends up in salty sea water. But still, this happens quite rarely, since the hippopotamus feels most comfortable in a body of fresh water.

Lifestyle

Usually hippos live in groups of 2-3 dozen individuals. Sometimes there are many more animals in the herd. During the day, hippos lie in the water. In this case, only part of the face and back is visible. Hippos can swim or walk along the bottom of a reservoir. Animals can hold their breath for quite a long time - sometimes up to 10 minutes.

Hippos are herbivores, but they do not like aquatic plants and feed on land mainly at night.

A hippopotamus can live for about 40 years, and in captivity or a zoo - more than 50 years. Among hippopotamuses, just like among people, there are long-livers: science knows of a case where a female hippopotamus lived for 60 years.

Danger to humans

Hippos are very aggressive animals, as evidenced by constant fights between males. You can often hear a message that a hippopotamus attacked a person. According to statistics, hippos attack people even more often than lions and other predators.

Hippo hunting

Residents of the African continent hunt hippos for their meat, skin and teeth. Of particular value are hippopotamus teeth, which are called hippopotamus bones. Africans make souvenirs from the teeth of animals, which are very expensive and highly valued.

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