The hippopotamus

The hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) is an African amphibious mammal, the largest non-ruminant. Its name comes from the Greek language, having the meaning of river horse (hippos = horse, potamus = River).
In the past, hippos were widespread throughout sub-Saharan Africa, but today their range has narrowed to a few regions in eastern and southeastern Africa.
Soil encroachment and crop destruction by hippos have led to efforts to exterminate them – skin and meat are also prized. Hippos disappeared completely from North Africa by the 1800s and from Southern Natal and Transvaal by 1900.
They are still quite widespread in Eastern Africa, but for example the Lake Chad breed in central-West Africa is threatened with extinction. Hippo populations are constantly declining.
There is still a high demand for hippo teeth as a source of fine ivory that can be easily processed – it was once used to make false teeth.

Feeding Hippopotamus

At night the hippos walk on trails known to them, up to 10 km in the pastures around the water, to feed for 5-6 hours. Long canines and incisors are used only as a weapon – grazing is performed by grabbing the grass with wide, hard lips and jerking the head vigorously.
Near rivers, where grass is grazed intensively and trampled, large areas can become completely devoid of vegetation, which leads to erosion. However, hippos eat quite little compared to their body weight (about 35 kg per night) because their energy needs are low as a result of spending most of their time in warm water.
Hippos do not rummage, but retain food for a long time in the stomach, extracting proteins through fermentation-based digestion process. Their digestive process is responsible for releasing a large number of nutrients into African rivers and lakes, thus favoring fish, which are in turn a crucial protein source for the local human population.

Appearance Hippopotamus

It has a barrel-shaped body, an enormous mouth, short legs and four toes on each foot. It can reach a length of 3.5 m, a shoulder height of 1.5 m and a weight of 3,200 kg.
The skin is very thick, almost hairless, a grayish-brown color on the back, but lighter, pink, on the ventral side. The ears and nostrils remain on the surface of the water when the rest of the body is submerged.
Hippos live near rivers, lakes, swamps, or other water meshes, usually in groups of 7 to 15 individuals.
There is no obvious sexual dimorphism, so females and young males are often confused.

Hippo Behavior

During the day they sleep and rest in or near the water. At night they go ashore to feed on herbs. In the water they can swim quickly or even go to the bottom, because they can stay submerged (with their nostrils and ears plugged) for more than 5 minutes.
Although they can often be seen lounging in the sun, hippos dehydrate quite quickly and need water to rehydrate their skin. Water is also needed to cool their bodies because they don't sweat.
Their skin is endowed with numerous glands that secrete a substance of reddish color, which led to the emergence of an ancient myth that hippos would sweat blood. The substance secreted by these glands acts as a filter against ultraviolet rays.
Hippos like shallow waters in which they can sleep only half submerged. The number of specimens is limited by these breeding spaces, which can become quite crowded – up to 150 hippos can share the same pool during the dry season.
During severe droughts or famines they start long migrations, which often result in the death of many specimens.
Females live in flocks, but do not associate permanently with other females, although they sometimes keep in touch with their offspring for several years. When in proximity, the dominant males from neighboring territories stare at each other, then turn around and, with their hind parts removed from the water, vigorously remove feces and urine in a wide arc.
This behavior indicates that the territory is occupied. The other males in the territory also make piles of dung along the access routes to their area, marking it olfactively. Hippos recognize each other by smell and sometimes follow one another, with their noses close to the tail of the one in front, on night trips.
Rarely do male disputes occur when foreign Bulls invade mating territories. Most aggressions consist of noises, showering with water, false attacks and displaying teeth by wide yawning of the mouth, but sometimes opponents engage in violent battles, trying to tear their opponent from the side with their lower incisors.
Wounds can be fatal despite thick skin.

Hippo Breeding

Males mature at the age of 8, but most mating is done by dominant males over the age of 20.
They monopolize for 12 years or more areas of the Rivers, called Mating territories. Other males are tolerated, but only if they do not attempt to mate. Females gather in these areas during dry periods, when most mating occurs.
Females Mature at 3 years of age in zoos, but in the wild maturity does not occur until after the age of 13. After an eight-month gestation, a single calf is born, weighing about 45 kg.
The calf can close its ears and nostrils to feed underwater and can climb onto its mother's back to rest. It begins to eat grass at the age of one month and is weaned at the age of 6-8 months.
Females give birth to a calf every two years. Young calves are vulnerable to crocodiles, lions and hyenas.
Longevity is up to 49 years in captivity, but rarely exceeds 40 years in the wild.