I need to no about hippos?hi The hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius), from the Greek 鈥樜瓜€蟺慰蟺蠈蟿伪渭慰蟼 (hippopotamos, hippos meaning "horse" and potamos meaning "river"), often shortened to "hippo", is a large, mostly plant-eating African mammal, one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae (the other being the Pygmy Hippopotamus).
The hippopotamus is semi-aquatic, inhabiting rivers and lakes in sub-Saharan Africa in large groups of up to 40 hippos. During the day they remain cool by staying in the water or mud; reproduction and childbirth both occur in water, where territorial bulls preside over a stretch of river. They emerge at dusk to graze on grass. While hippos rest near each other in territories in the water, grazing is a solitary activity and hippos are not territorial on land.
Despite their physical resemblance to pigs and other terrestrial even-toed ungulates, their closest living relatives are cetaceans鈥攚hales, porpoises and the like. The common ancestor of whales and hippos split from other even-toed ungulates around 60 million years ago. The earliest known hippopotamus fossils, belonging to the genus Kenyapotamus in Africa, date to around 16 million years ago.
The hippopotamus is recognizable for its barrel-shaped torso, hairless body, stubby legs and tremendous size. It is similar in size to the White Rhinoceros; only elephants are consistently larger and despite its stocky shape and short legs, it can easily outrun a human. Hippos have been clocked at 30 mph while running short distances; faster than an olympic sprinter. Despite its popularity in zoos and cuddly portrayal as gentle giants in fiction, the hippopotamus is among the most dangerous and aggressive of all animals. There are an estimated 125,000 to 150,000 hippos remaining throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, of which Zambia (40,000) and Tanzania (20,000-30,000) have the largest populations . They are still threatened by poaching for their meat and ivory canine teeth, and by habitat loss. They are fat they are big and gray! okay.. Info about hippos..
Hippos from the Turgwe Reserve
Hippo Fact Sheet
The African Hippo Population: about 157, 000 (a quarter of the elephant population)
Hippo Population in the South East Lowveld of Zimbabwe: 2000 pre-1991/92 drought, now approximately 350 animals.
Longevity: 40-45 years
Gestation Period: 8 to 8 1/2 months
Weight of New Born Calf: 20 kg Mature female: 1 1/2 tons Mature male: 2 - 3 tons
Food: mainly grass, eating up to 45 kg per night
Drink: up to 250 litres (56 gallons) in any 24 hours
Speed: up to 30 mph (40-45 km/hr)
Maximum Time Under Water: up to 5 minutes for an adult
Where It Lives: Formerly anywhere south of the Sahara where adequate water and grazing occured. Confined now to protected areas, but still survives in many rivers and swamps.
Activity: During daylight hours, spend most of their time in water, socialising and digesting the previous night鈥檚 fodder. During cooler months, they like to lie up on sandbanks in the sun. At night they leave their water habitat, travelling up to 2 or 3 miles (3 to 5 km), at most normally 6 miles (10 km) for their nightly foraging.
Offspring and Maternal Care: Cows isolate themselves before calving, giving birth on land in weeded areas close to water, or sometimes in the water. They stay alone with the tiny baby for 8 to 21 days so that the calf can imprint with its mother, then they rejoin the group. Calves nurse under water, automatically resurfacing to breathe. At first they can only submerge for approximately 35 seconds; this increases up to 2 minutes by two months of age. They start to nibble at grass by about five months and here in the Turgwe are not weaned until 20 to 22 months. Calves can be left in 鈥榗reches鈥?while mothers go off to graze in the evening, where they are guarded by one or sometimes a couple of cows.
Territorial Advertising: This is done mainly by the bull. It is achieved by backing up to an object such as a bush or a rock, and simultaneously urinating and defecating by paddling excrement with its tail. This can be done in or out of the water. Bulls tend to do this frequently but cows have been observed doing it as well. This marking defines the extension of the bull鈥檚 territory, as well as indicating to other members of the group the direction the bull has taken on his evening forages.
Calls: The normal call of a hippo is classified as wheeze honking; it sounds more like a laugh with a loud 鈥榟umph humph humph.鈥?One hippo calls and normally all the others respond. The calling occurs most frequently in the early morning as the hippos re-enter the water and at sunset before leaving the water. They also have various grunts and wheeze type noises, with the female emitting a loud purring like call when being mated or when wanting to be mated. At night it is mainly the bulls that call and not as frequently as in the water.
Gaping: Hippos have a wide variety of reasons for gaping. One is a genuine yawn where the jaws are opened widely, often with the hippo male or female stretching up with its head out of the water. It is as well a standard threat display, exposing the obviously large lower canines (In a male, the lower canines have been known to grow to 3 feet in length). Gaping is often used in play between calves or between calves and adults, where the gape is followed by a pushing jostling competition.
Threat Display: Water scooping, where a hippo appears to be mouthing and gulping the water, usually with tightened or staring eyes. Snorting, mock charging or full blown charges which can be followed up by actually leaving the water. Head shaking and chasing other hippos. Exhaling explosively above or below the water surface.
Their Response to Predators: Diving and swimming away under water. This can be a reaction to people or vehicles where hippos have been subjected to shooting. Aggressive response by gaping, water scooping, head shaking or charging.
Future of the Hippos within Africa: On appendix II of CITES due to poaching in many western and central African countries. Poachers provide hippo teeth for use as a substitute to elephant ivory for the carving of curios for the tourist market. The habitat is slowly shrinking in many parts of Africa due to ever increasing human population. They don't look like most of us They look docile but can snap a 18' crocodile in half that is why the crocks never touch the little baby hippos they are the largest cause of violence towards humans in africa. they are vicious, territorial and have been known to swallow humans whole and/or mutiliate bodies. Can you spell GOOGLE? a hippo is huge and dark grey.
it is lazy and enjoys floating in water.
it likes to be close to its female .
they are seen as pairs all the time. wel,okay...they are fast animals,terrotorial..like coming out of the water at night,feed on grass,use the smae route to go back 2 the river,they never DIVERT!!!!nd they are a little scary http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippopotamu...
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