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- Hippos can get around easier when in the water, although they can run up to 48 km/h on land. However, hippos’ biggest reason to remain submerged in water is to protect their sensitive skin from the sun’s harsh rays.
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- What Is A Hippo?
- Appearance
- Life in The Water
- Aggression and Dominance
- Reproduction
- Threats to Survival
Hippopotamuses are large, semiaquatic mammals native to sub-Saharan Africa. Although their name comes from the Greek for “river horse”—because of the time they spend in the water—their closest living relatives are whales, dolphins, and pigs. They can’t swim, breathe underwater, or even float—but they have developed a tactic that lets them nap under...
Hippos are the world’s third-largest land mammals after elephants and white rhinos. Males can reach lengths of 10.8 to 16.5 feet, and weigh up to 9,920 pounds, while females weigh up to 3,000 pounds. These muscular animals have round torsos and pinkish brown bodies with two-inch-thick, waterproof skin, and short, stout legs. They might not look aer...
Hippos live in waterways such as rivers, lakes, and mangroves. Their skin may be thick but it is extremely sensitive and can easily burn or dry out in the fierce African sun. So, they spend most of their day in the water or mud to keep cool, wet, and protect their delicate skin. When basking on the shore, they secrete an oily red sweat-like substan...
These social animals live in groups called herds or pods, which typically include around 40 individuals or as many 200. They are highly territorial, and use dung middens—an area where they repeatedly poop—to mark their territory and communicatewith other hippos. Males will use their tail to flick their dung in all directions as a display of dominan...
Females reach sexual maturity around the age of 10. Gestation lasts eight months, and they give birth to one calf every two years. Hippos mate and give birth in the water. Weighing nearly a hundred pounds at birth, newborn hippos can hold their breath for 90 seconds. Once mother and calf have bonded, they join schoolsof other hippos for protection ...
The International Union for Conservation of Nature classifies hippos as vulnerable to extinction. Although the hippopotamus doesn’t have many predators, it is threatened by poaching for its meat, fat, and ivory teeth. Other threats include the loss of its habitat and human-hippo conflicts. Because the species is slow to reproduce, threats can signi...
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Jun 16, 2019 · Hippos stay submerged in the water during the day in order to protect their skin from the sun. The short answer to our question is that hippos live in water to make use of a largely unexploited ecological niche.
Jul 7, 2024 · In reality, hippos can only stay submerged for a maximum of about five minutes. As their diving time extends, they forcefully exhale through their enlarged nostrils when surfacing, often creating a misty spray effect known locally as “hippo spray.”
Feb 18, 2022 · They live in areas with abundant water, as they spend most of their time submerged to keep their skin cool and moist. Considered amphibious animals, hippos spend up to 16 hours per day in...
Oct 28, 2019 · Hippos’ movement is driven primarily by two factors: water sources and food availability. They spend their days submerged in rivers and pools to avoid the harsh sun. At night, however, they move onto dry land to graze on the swaths of short grasses their wide mouths are adapted to mowing.
Apr 26, 2017 · Yet hippos are able to keep their feet in contact with the ground, even when they’re underwater, “by control of the specific gravity of the body and high bone density,” according to a 2009 paper...
