Hippopotamus Facts

Hippopotamus Facts

1. The shape of a hippo is a huge oval for a body with legs. It almost could look like a shaved cow.

2. Hippo’s are mostly gray but have some pink spots of them and have some parts of body such as there head more pink than other parts.

3. Hippo’s are herbivores which means they only eat plants, no meat. 

4. They eat soft grass, shrubs, reeds, leaves, fallen nuts or fruits.

5. The mother lets the baby calf ride on the back until able to hunt and walk by them selves.

6. The baby calf will stay with the same herd for it’s entire life.

7. The only shelter a hippo has is the water it lives in and grass, but hippo’s don’t really need any shelter because nothing attacks hippo’s except for the occasional crocidile.

8. Hippo’s are born to a herd, and when they are born to a herd they stay with that herd for the rest of their lives and will stop at nothing to protect the herd.

9. One of the most aggressive animals in the world. About 300 people die per year from Hippo attacks

10. Live mostly in Africa, by watering holes or rivers, or streams.The average male Hippo will get into a fight 3 times a day.

11. For defense they fight with their mouths.

12. It doesn’t take very much effort for a hippo to get food because they are herbivores.At night hippo’s will often sneak into farms crop fields and eat there crops.

13. Hippo’s live 30 to 40 years

14. But they live over 50 in captivity.

15. Large numbers of Hippo’s were found by the Nile river in Ancient Egypt.

16. Hippo’s would forage in the wetlands along the Nile river.

17. Egyptians feared Hippo’s due to their large bodies, large teeth, and aggressive nature.

18. An adult Hippo can run up to 14 miles per hour on land.

19. Can store up to two days worth of grass in its stomach.

20. Adult hippo’s can hold their breath up to 30 minutes.

21. Hippo’s vocalization is measured at 115 decibels, which is like standing 15 feet away from a speaker at a rock concert!

22. Hippos take great care of there calves.

23. They give them swimming lessons and teach them to stay near to there mum.

24. A male hippo can sometimes kill a baby hippo.

25. The common hippo can be very dangerous. 

26. The changes with all its heavy weight, showing its huge tusks hippos cannot really be tamed or trained.

27. They have strong teeth to help them grind up their tough food and special stomachs to digest it. 

28. A mournful-looking pygmy hippo coreopsis liberiersis, from west Africa. Its well-oiled look is due to the secretion of a clear, viscous.

29. One way the hippo protects its self is by showing its big teeth. This scares the predators. Another detail about the hippo defense is it stays alert for its baby. 

30. Finally the hippo slashes the other hippo with his tusks.

31. Adult hippos don’t have enemies, but calves do.  Calves can’t protect themselves from hyenas, crocodiles, or lions.  Crocodiles prey on calves on land and water.  On land the lion kills calves.  Hyenas hunt calves on land too.

32. They get sunburned  easily.  Another interesting fact is a cow is a bit smaller than a bull.  Did you know a cow is a female and a bull is a boy?  Finally, the largest hippo tusk were measured at 25 inches.