By Lucas Thoelke

Description  Kingdom- Animalia  Phylum- Chordata  Class- Mammalia  Order- Artiodactyla  Family- Hippopotamidae

Shape and Dimensions  The shape of a hippo is a huge oval for a body with legs. It almost could look like a shaved cow.  Length- 13 to 14 feet  Height- About 5 feet  Weight- 4,000 to 8,000 lb

Color 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.

Habitat

Part Of World And Environment  Hippo’s live mostly in Africa, But also in some parts of Asia.  Most zoo’s around the world have hippo’s though  The environment that Hippo’s like is swampy areas, some lakes, rivers and streams.

Diet

What They Eat  Hippo’s are herbivores which means they only eat plants, no meat.  They eat soft grass, shrubs, reeds, leaves, fallen nuts or fruits.

Family Life

Offspring  One baby calf born at a time  Gestation- 8 months  Born all year round  The mother lets the baby calf ride on the back until able to hunt and walk by them selves.  The baby calf will stay with the same herd for it’s entire life

Shelter  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

Social Behavior  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

Characteristics

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

Habitats and Unique Behavior  Live mostly in Africa, by watering holes or rivers, or streams.  The average male Hippo will get into a fight 3 times a day.  For defense they fight with their mouths

Acquiring Food and Life-Span  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  Hippo’s live 30 to 40 years  But they live over 50 in captivity

History of the Hippo

Hippo’s In Ancient Egypt  Large numbers of Hippo’s were found by the Nile river in Ancient Egypt.  Hippo’s would forage in the wetlands along the Nile river  Egyptians feared Hippo’s due to their large bodies, large teeth, and aggressive nature

Present status  The regular hippo is vulnerable which means they have numbers but are almost considered endangered.  The pygmy Hippo is endangered.

Relationship to Humans

 In Africa hippo’s and humans actually live fairly close to each other, but the natives know not to get to close to them

Fun Facts!  An adult Hippo can run up to 14 miles per hour on land  Can store up to two days worth of grass in its stomach  Adult hippo’s can hold their breath up to 30 minutes  Hippo’s vocalization is measured at 115 decibels, which is like standing 15 feet away from a speaker at a rock concert!