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Being semi-aquatic, hippos are built for life in the water. Their ears, eyes, and nostrils are located on top of their heads, allowing them to see, hear, and breathe while remaining mostly underwater.
After begging and pleading, the hippos were finally allowed to live in the water on the condition they would eat grass instead of fish, and fling their dung so it can be inspected for fish bones. In a Ndebele tale, the hippo originally had long, beautiful hair, but it was set on fire by a jealous hare and the hippo had to jump into a nearby pool.
Hippopotamidae is a family of stout, naked-skinned, and semiaquatic artiodactyl mammals, possessing three-chambered stomachs and walking on four toes on each foot. While they resemble pigs physiologically, their closest living relatives are the cetaceans.
Hippos leave the water at dusk and travel inland, sometimes up to 10 km (6 mi), [31] to graze on short grasses, their main source of food. They spend four to five hours grazing and can consume 68 kg (150 lb) of grass each night. [ 54 ]
Even the king of the jungle can have a bad day when trying to cross a river guarded by an aggressive hippo. Three lions found out the hard way that this river crossing was a giant hippo’s territory.
A federal judge has given the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service three more years to determine whether the common hippopotamus should be protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Wild hippos ...
The common hippopotamus gives birth and mates only in the water, but pygmy hippos mate and give birth on both land and water. Young pygmy hippos can swim almost immediately. At birth, pygmy hippos weigh 4.5–6.2 kg (9.9–13.7 lb) with males weighing about 0.25 kg (0.55 lb) more than females.
Hippos are characterized by large, barrel-shaped torsos, stocky legs, and large mouths containing equally large canine tusks. They are huge and stocky, but despite this frame, can run upwards of