They are very regional animals and will charge anyone who stands between them and the water. These moody animals do not like the preconceived notions of Happy Hippo. And their roly-poly frames are topped by an incredible set of sharp teeth. Every year they kill about people! Male hippos can weigh up to four tons kg. A hippo can reach top speed in seconds. Usually they surprise other animals and people.
Although they are semi-aquatic animals and webbed legs, hippos are too heavy for swimming. Instead, they walk underwater. A hippo can walk 8 kilometers per hour under water 5 miles. Every few minutes it will come to the surface to breathe. Then it will sink in and walk a bit further. It is even more astonishing to learn that hippos cannot even float. They are nocturnal animals. Spending the day in the water, they are protected from the sun and stay cool.
Sometimes they find shallow spots for bathing. Other times they stay away from the sun and go up. Hippos is a cantankerous animal. They like their way of doing things. And their roly-poly frames are topped by an incredible set of sharp teeth. Every year they kill some people! Male hippos can weigh up to four tons kg. A hippo can reach top speed in just a couple of seconds.
Usually they catch other animals and people by surprise. Although they are semi-aquatic animals and have webbed feet, hippos are too heavy for swimming. Instead, they walk underwater. Every few minutes it will surface in order to breathe. Then it will sink and walk some more. They are nocturnal animals. By spending their days in the water they escape the sun and stay cool. They are amphibious or semi-aquatic , mostly living in rivers, lakes, and mangrove swamps. The common hippo is the third-largest land mammal after the White rhinoceros and elephant , and it is as ferocious as it looks.
Indeed, it is one of the two considered to be among the most dangerous animals in Africa. At even a slow walking speed, a hippo can outrun humans. Given that they are territorial and notoriously aggressive towards intruders, it makes for a lethal combination.
Hippopotamus has no natural predators other than lions , crocodiles , and tigers , which they defend against using their hippo-sized canines. Hippos spend up to 16 hours a day wallowing in water or mud , keeping calm and protected from predators. They emerge at dusk to graze on short grasses, with an average adult consuming 88 pounds 40 kilograms of food each night.
Hippopotamuses are gregarious and live in tight-knit communities, with males setting up a dominance hierarchy. Females are more "delicate," topping out around 3, pounds. Despite their massive bulk, hippos can run faster than humans -- up to 30 miles per hour! A hippo spends most of its life in the water, and its body is well-suited to a liquid lifestyle.
Blubber makes the animal buoyant, so it can float. And its skin oozes a pink "slime" that protects the hippo from sunburn, both in and out of the water. The hippo's head is also well adapted for aquatic life. Its eyes sit on top of the head, so the hippo can get most of its body under water and still see what's going on above water.
The nostrils are also located on top of the muzzle so the hippo can stay mostly under water and still breathe and sniff the air. When the hippo submerges, the nostrils close to keep out water. The ears sit high on the head, so the hippo can still hear what's going on above water when it's mostly underneath.
If the whole head goes under, the ears swivel to shake out water when the hippo resurfaces. But what about sounds below the water? That's a job for the hippo's jawbone, which conducts sound waves. So a hippo with its jaw submerged can hear sounds above and below water at the same time!
And one more way a hippo is adapted for life in the water: it can hold its breath for up to five minutes. Hippos spend most of their days in or near the water in groups called pods. In the evenings, pods break up and the hippos leave the water, either singly or as females with their calves. They wander as much as three miles from the water in search of food.
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