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The Hippopotamus is the third largest animal that lives on land, living in Central, Southern and Western Africa. The large wild River Hippopotamus may weigh as much as 2630kg. The smaller and rarer species is the Pygmy Hippopotamus of Borneo. They are good swimmers and can stay under water for up to six minutes, sometimes walking along the bottom. Their stout, barrel-shaped bodies are designed for their aquatic lifestyle, living in lakes, rivers and streams near grasslands. The ears, eyes, and nostrils are positioned so that the animal can see, breathe, and hear while most of its huge head is underwater. They have a good sense of smell but only fair vision. On land their short legs can run about 32km per hour. The hippo has broad lips, and an enormous mouth and can open it to a width of 4 feet. It frequently does to show its powerful canines and challenge its enemies. Long curved front teeth and tusklike side teeth that may grow more than 2 feet long, but only half the tooth sticks out above the gum line. All the teeth grow throughout the animals life, although the teeth of the upper and lower jaws grind together and wear each other away so they seldom become too long. River hippos have thick, brownish-gray skin. No hair except for a few bristles on the head and tail. Special glands in the skin give off a clear, oily fluid that is either pink or red to prevent its skin getting too dry. They live in herds of 5 to 30 animals. Spending the day submerged in pools of water or mud hollows to keep cool, eating water plants and sunning themselves on sandbanks. At dusk the herd goes on land treading a distinctive four webb-toed footprints marking their path, while feeding on fruit, grass, leaves and vegetables. Oxpeckers, birds of the starling family, feed on ticks on the hippos hides. Usually only one calf is born, that can walk, run and swim within five minutes. The baby hippo nurses on its mother's milk underwater and often climbs on her back to sun itself as she floats on the water. The
Pygmy Hippopotamus has blackish skin, and is found in thick forests near streams
and swamps and spends less time in the water. They live alone or in
pairs and are nocturnal. They are becoming increasingly rare due to
hunting and destruction of their habitat. Africans shoot many hippos for meat, as it has an extremely
high protein content, and use the hides to make soup. The canines provide
valuable ivory, once used for artificial teeth because it did not turn
yellow. People have greatly reduced the number of hippos and the size
of the area in which they live. At one time, the animals lived in rivers |