Wart hog feels that hippopotamus plays an important role in the ecosystems. Daily activities both in and out of water create habitats for smaller organisms. The formation of hippo paths from water to land clears avenues that water can flow through during wet seasons. Flooding of these paths creates most of the lagoons and side pools that small fish retreat to during droughts.
The hippopotamus, whose hide alone can weigh half a ton, is the third-largest living land mammal, after elephants and white rhinos.
The name hippopotamus comes from the Greek “hippos,” meaning horse; these animals were once called “river horses.” But the hippo is more closely related to the pig than the horse Hippos spend most of their day in water close to shore lying on their bellies. In areas undisturbed by people, hippos lie on the shore in the morning sun.
The hippo has neither sweat nor sebaceous glands but does have unique glands that produce a viscous red fluid, leading to the myth that hippos “sweat blood.” The hippo relies on water or mud to keep it cool, and the red fluid may have a similar function, but it is often produced in copious amounts when the animal is excited.
There are two species of Hippos and they prefer different types of habitat. For the Common Hippo, they live mainly in the Eastern part of Africa around the Sahara. They are the more aggressive type of Hippo and the ones that are often known to be eating the crops that villagers have planted for their own needs.
They are found living in clean bodies of water that don’t move very fast. They do like it deep enough for their bodies, but not too deep. They also prefer a bottom that is easy for them to move around in. If there are many rocks it can be something that slows down the Hippos and even injures them as they move around.
The habitat for the Pygmy Hippos is different as they like to live in the swamplands. They like shallow or deeper. They are smaller in weight so that could be part of the reason why such factors aren’t a burden to their movements.
The number of Pygmy Hippos living in the wild today is extremely small. They continue to have their surroundings invaded by villagers that want to plant crops or that need more living space due to their growing populations. Today you will find them only in the forest area of the Western part of Africa.
The hippo continues to thrive in other parts of Africa. Physical Characteristics the hippo’s proportions reflect its sedentary, amphibious existence. Its plump and bulky body is set on short, stumpy legs, with each foot having four toes. Although webbed, the toes splay enough to distribute the weight evenly over each toe and therefore adequately support the hippo on land with very thick skin, especially over the back and rump, the grayish-brown body is almost completely hairless, with only a few bristles around the mouth and the tip of the tail.
This social, group-living mammal is so numerous in some areas that “cropping” schemes are used to control populations that have become larger than the habitat can sustain. The large hippo is an aggressive animal; old scars and fresh, deep wounds are signs of daily fights that are accompanied by much bellowing, neighing and snorting.
Hippos have developed some ritualized postures the huge open-mouthed “yawn” that reveals formidable teeth is one of the most aggressivewith the long, razor-sharp incisors and tusklike canines, the hippo is well-armed and dangerous.Hippos move easily in water, either swimming by kicking their hind legs or walking on the bottom.
They are well-adapted to their aquatic life, with small ears, eyes and nostrils set at the top of the head. These senses are so keen that even submerged in water, the hippo is alert to its surroundings. By closing its ears and nostrils, the adult can stay under water for as long as six minutes.Hippos have a flexible social system defined by hierarchy and by feed and water conditions. Usually they are found in mixed groups of about 15 individuals, but in periods of drought large numbers are forced to congregate near limited pools of water.
This overcrowding disrupts the hierarchical system, resulting in even higher levels of aggression, with the oldest and strongest males most dominant. Hippos are unpredictable. If they are encountered away from the safety of water, anything that gets between them and their refuge may be bitten or trampled.Dietamazingly agile for their bulk, hippos are good climbers and often traverse rather steep banks each night to graze on grass.
They exit and enter the water at the same spots and graze for four to five hours each night in loop patterns, covering one or two miles, with extended forays up to five miles. Their modest appetites are due to their sedentary life, which does not require high outputs of energy.
Caring for the Young a single young is born either on land or in shallow water. In water, the mother helps the newborn to the surface, later teaching it to swim. Newly born hippos are relatively small, weighing from 55 to 120 pounds, and are protected by their mothers, not only from crocodiles and lions but from male hippos that, oddly enough, do not bother them on land but attack them in water.
Young hippos can only stay under water for about half a minute, but adults can stay submerged up to six minutes. Young hippos can suckle under water by taking a deep breath, closing their nostrils and ears and wrapping their tongue tightly around the teat to suck.
This procedure must be instinctive, because newborns suckle the same way on land. A young hippo begins to eat grass at 3 weeks, but its mother continues to suckle it for about a year. Newborns often climb on their mothers’ backs to rest. Predators Compared to other animals, hippos are not very susceptible to disease, so in suitable habitats, their numbers can increase quickly. Their chief predators are people, who may hunt hippos for their meat, hides and ivory teeth.

Wildlife & Environmental Conservation Society of Zambia
P.O. Box 30255, Lusaka, Zambia.
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