Did you know....
1. Hippopotamus comes from two Greek words that mean "river
horse" and are found in the rivers and lakes of central and southern
Africa.
2. Common Hippos are more closely related to pigs than to horses.
Their closest relative is the Pigmy Hippo, a forest dwelling mammal
in the west African rain forests. The Pygmy Hippopotamus are endangered,
due to the loss of habitat.
3.
The Common Hippo's eyes and nose are on top of its head because it
spends most of the time in the water. The Pygmy Hippo has eyes on
the side of its head because it lives mostly in the forest.
4. Hippos can weigh 5,000 to 8,000 pounds and be 12 to 15 feet
in length, also with a tail that is 22 inches long. The only land
animals larger than the Hippopotamus is the Elephant and Rhinoceros.
5. They are very aggressive, do not fear humans and are one
of Africa's more dangerous inhabitants. Hippos are very territorial
of their waters. They live together in family groups of around 20
members that consist of females, babies and a dominate male.
6. Hippopotamus have 2 canines or tusks that can grow up to
20 inches long. They keep them sharp by the constant rubbing against
the smaller upper pair. When a hippo opens it's mouth, to can be up
to 4 feet wide! A Hippo has strong jaws and can bite a large crocodile
in half, if the need should arise.
7. A hippo can live to be more than 40 years old in the wild.
8. Hippos have webbed feet that help them swim gracefully.
They spend most of the day in water. At dusk the Hippos leave the
water, walking up to five miles, to graze on grasses. They graze until
dawn and can eat up to 150 pounds of grass a night. As the sun rises
they return to their watering hole to sleep and stay cool in the hot
sun.
9.
Baby Hippopotamus are born underwater and also nurse underwater.
They are called calves. When they are little, a Baby Hippo will ride
on the mother's back to take a rest. An adult Hippo can stay underwater
for about 10 minutes.
10. Adult Hippos are rarely attacked by predators. The main
danger to baby hippos is from getting in the way of fights between
male Hippopotamus, Lions and Crocodiles.
11. The main predator of the Hippopotamus is man. They are
hunted for their meat, hide and ivory tusks. The status of Hippos
are in danger due the ivory trade.
12.
The Pygmy Hippopotamus are endangered, due to the loss of habitat
in forest areas.
