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      • Grazing until dawn, a hippo may eat up to 150 pounds (68 kilograms) of grass a night. They avoid the heat of the sun by returning to a river or lake before sunrise.
      kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/hippopotamus
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  2. Hundreds of hippos are shot each year to minimize human-wildlife conflict, despite the fact that ditches or low fences easily deter them. It is more likely that the popularity of their meat is the reason for this strategy. Their fat and ivory tusks are also valuable to humans.

    • 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,...

  3. By maintaining the balance of these delicate ecosystems, hippos help mitigate the effects of climate change. Hippos are facing several threats to their survival as a species. Global conservation efforts are critical to ensuring the well-being of the species and the ecosystems it inhabits.

  4. Feb 16, 2024 · Hippos are vulnerable to extinction due to poaching, loss of access to fresh water, mechanized farming, and urbanization. World Hippo Day encourages people to take action to prevent their extinction by educating others, running conservation efforts, or donating to animal conservation organizations.

  5. Hippos seek refuge from the heat by living in water during the day, and at night they come ashore to feed on short, soft grasses and fallen fruit. The eyes and ears of a hippopotamus are on top of its head, so it can keep watch for enemies—mainly crocodiles—while lying low in the water.

  6. Aug 1, 2008 · Click here to find our more: http://bit.ly/BBCEarthWW Hippopotamus babies and how hippos manage their young on the African wildlife safari wilderness. These endangered animals are filmed by the...

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  7. Mar 10, 2011 · When totally submerged, the ears and nostrils shut tight to keep the water out, and hippos can hold their breath for five minutes. Hippos often nap in the water during the daytime.

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