Hippopotamus
[ Hippopotamus amphibius ]
Quick Facts
| BODY LENGTH: |
9.5 to 11 feet |
| TAIL LENGTH: |
15 to 22 inches
|
| HEIGHT: |
4.5 to 5.5 feet |
| WEIGHT: |
male: 5,000 to 7,000 pounds; female: 2,000 to 4,000 pounds |
| WILD DIET: |
mostly grass, but also fruit and other vegetation |
| ZOO DIET: |
alfalfa hay, alfalfa grain pellets, carrots, sweet potatoes, apples, bananas, oranges, and bread |
| DISTRIBUTION: |
Africa south of the Sahara Desert, mainly in the east and south; they are rare in some parts of their range and extremely numerous in others |
| HABITAT: |
permanent bodies of water; mainly rivers, but also lakes and muddy wallows near reed beds and grasslands |
Massive with a Capital "M"
Number two
The common hippopotamus is the second heaviest land animals in the world, after elephants. Its mouth is disproportionately huge—making up almost a third of the body, and causing its head alone weigh up to 1,000 pounds! Hippos can open their mouths three times as wide as humans can, and inside are four sharp tusks, each up to a foot long.
Not only the Nile
Once called Nile hippos, their name was changed because they do not just live in the Nile River. They are widely distributed in sub-Saharan water systems of eastern and southern Africa. They are only rarely found in the forest like their smaller relatives, pygmy hippos. Instead, common hippos prefer the rivers, lakes, and muddy wallows of the savannah.
River horse?
"Hippopotamus" translates into "river horse," the name given to hippos by the ancient Greeks. Although the "horse" part is a bit of a stretch, they were right about linking these great animals to water. In fact, hippos spend almost all the daylight hours submerged, coming on to land to feed on grass at night. Most activities happen in water—sleeping, fighting, mating, and even births if the level is shallow enough.
With nostrils that can close and great lung capacity, hippos can walk along the river bottom for up to five minutes without surfacing. And despite their great weight, hippos are good swimmers.
Tied to the water
Hippos stay in the water most of the time because they have to. Even during droughts, when lakes are almost dry, you will see hundreds of hippos crammed together in the mud. Only when the mud is baked dry by the sun will the hippos seek out another water source.
Why such a dependence on water? The reason seems to be in the hippos’ unusual skin, which does not have sweat glands and loses water to the air at a great rate. In addition to coming to land mainly at night, hippos have a unique way of helping keep their sun-sensitive skin moist. They secrete a pinkish liquid that dries and prevents sunburn. It is this trait that led early circus barkers to advertise them as strange creatures that "sweat blood."
Mouthing off
As with all social animals, communication is vital to maintaining the group. The hippo’s big mouth plays an important role in its social behavior. When an intruding hippo enters a territory, the resident male meets the threat with an incredible open-mouth display that shows off his dangerous tusks.
Hippos at Brookfield Zoo
Brookfield Zoo has two common hippos, a male and a female. You can see them inside Pachyderm House when the weather is cold. In warm climes they’ll be outside in their spacious newly-refurbished yard, which features a large pool. There are some new elevated platforms so you’ll get a great view. If you don’t see them, watch the surface of the water—their eyes, ears, and nostrils will be the first thing you see as they rise from the depths.