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The Greek historian Herodotus described the hippo in The Histories (written circa 440 BC) and the Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder wrote about the hippo in his encyclopedia Naturalis Historia (written circa 77 AD).
- Hippo Profile
- Interesting Hippo Facts
- Hippo Fact-File Summary
The hippopotamus, or hippo, is native to sub-Saharan Africa and is a large, mostly herbivorous mammal. The name hippopotamus comes from an ancient Greek word that translates to mean ‘river horse’ and the hippo is the third-largest land mammal following the elephant and rhinoceros.
1. Hippos are the deadliest large land animal on the planet
The Hippopotamus is one of the most dangerous animals in the world, killing an estimated 500 people a year in Africa. They are extremely aggressive, unpredictable, have sharp teeth and can crush a human or predator to death with relative ease due to their size. In one 2014 case in Niger, a boat was capsized by a hippo and 13 people were killed. 1
2. Hippos love the water!
The hippopotamus is a semi-aquatic mammal. This means that even though they’re a mammal like humans, dogs, cats, and other similar species, they spend a majority of their life in the water. Their historic habitat even included the Nile River. They love the water so much that the Greeks had named them river horses! However, they only spend their days in the water. By night, they’re on the land and grazing for up to 6 hours.
3. There’s only one wild herd famous outside of Africa…
And it has its roots entangled with Pablo Escobar! During his time, Escobar ran a private zoo which featured hippopotamuses. After he left, however, they escaped into the wild and continued to thrive in Colombia, where they are now part of a herd of at least 80. Since the hippo is an invasive species in this area that could damage the river ecosystems and native wildlife, there are now efforts to help reduce their ability to reproduce, providing a more humane way to halt the growth of the her...
Scientific Classification
1. AFP. “Hippopotamus attack kills 13 people, including 12 children, in boat near Niger’s capital Niamey” ABC News. November 19, 2014. 2. Weisburger, Mindy. “Pablo Escobar’s ‘cocaine hippos’ are being sterilized because the population is out of control.” Live Science. October 21, 2021. 3. Berkovitz, Barry K.B. “Tusks and Ivory” in Nothing but a Tooth. 2013. 4. Moustafa M Haddara et al. “Hippopotamus bite morbidity: a report of 11 cases from Burundi“. National Library of Medicine. August 10th,...
- Rivers, lakes & mangrove swamps
- sub-Saharan Africa, Colombia
- 40-50 years
- 13-18 ft (4 to 5.5 m)
Most recent research has found that hippos roamed English soil around an unknown period between 500,000 and 780,000 years ago. The hippos lived in the ‘Middle Pleistocene’ era where temperatures in England were exotic and equivalent to that of the African Savannah.
Oct 8, 2024 · Often considered to be the second largest land animal (after the elephant), the hippopotamus is comparable in size and weight to the white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum) and the Indian rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis). Hippopotamus is Greek for “river horse,” and the animal has been known since ancient times.
Mar 10, 2011 · In 1910, the American Hippo Bill proposed importing hippos to the Louisiana bayou to solve two key issues in the United States at the time: meat shortages and invasive plant species.
- 2 min
With a large barrel-shaped body, short legs and huge skull, the hippo is the third largest land animal in the world. Adult bulls can reach 4–5m long and weigh four tonnes (4,000kg).
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The first zoo hippo in modern history was Obaysch who arrived at the London Zoo on May 25, 1850, where he attracted up to 10,000 visitors a day and inspired a popular song, the Hippopotamus Polka. Hippos have remained popular zoo animals since Obaysch, and generally breed well in captivity.
