can you tell me about the hippo?

Answer 1

The Hippo was nick named the river god by the ancient Egyptians. They are one of the reasons a water ecosystem thrives, since the dung they spew is a rich source of nutrient for fish and the plant life. Surprisingly they have been found to eat meat on occasion, sometimes stealing it from crocodiles since they are the only animal that is feared by croc's. Calf's are born under water and urged to float upwards for air by the cow, the male Hippo is the biggest threat to new born calf's due to the fact that the predominant male sometimes doesn't always accept the calf and therefore can be a threat. When the cow tries to introduce her calf to the herd the male may not react favorably, even though the calf is his own. Many calf's are killed by the dominate male in a herd at such moments. In the wild they kill more humans than any other animal (up to 300 people a year) and are surprisingly fast moving on land. They are territorial and live in groups with one dominant male serving the females. Disputes between the largest bulls begin with a display of opening the mouth as wide as possible, showing the large razor sharp tusk and can escalate into mortal combat. Their hides are sensitive to the sun and need constant moisturizing. They tend to graze at night for food on grasses going up to several miles inland from the rivers they inhabit for prime grasses. They're also one of my favorite animals.

Answer 2

The hippopotamus is a large, mostly plant-eating African mammal. Hippopotamuses are gregarious, living in groups of up to 40 animals. A hippo's lifespan is typically 40 to 50 years. Female hippos reach sexual maturity at 5 to 6 years and have a gestation period of 8 months.

Hippos average 3.5 meters (11 ft) long, 1.5 meters (5 ft) tall at the shoulder, and weigh from 1,500 to 3,200 kilograms (3,300 to 7,000 lb). They are approximately the same size as the White Rhinoceros, and experts are split on which is the next largest land animal after the elephant. Male hippos appear to continue growing throughout their lives, whereas the females reach a maximum weight at around age 25. Females are smaller than their male counterparts and normally weigh no more than 1,500 kg. The value of 3,200 kg is often quoted as being the upper limit of weight for a male hippo. However, larger specimens than this have been documented, including one which weighed about 4,500 kg (10,000 lb) and measured about 5 meters (16 ft) long. Their skin weighs a ton, it is 4 centimeters (1.5 in) thick, and accounts for 25% of their weight. Even though they are bulky animals, hippopotamuses can run faster than a human on land. There are estimates of their running speed varying from 30 km/h (18 mph) to 40 km/h (25 mph), or even 50 km/h (30 mph). The hippo can maintain these higher estimates for only a few hundred meters or yards.

Answer 3

Cool! I should warn you, though. Don't let the hippo bite you, as you may catch Hippotitis. It slowly transforms you into a hippo in an 80 day period. There are vaccines, but in America, they are extremely expensive. If you go to china, however, they're having a discount sale!

Answer 4

no but have you seen that fake commercial on the house hippo, so funny, but what i do know about hippos is that they are actually very fast, so don't try and outrun one!! go to wikipedia.org keyword hippo and i swear you'll know everything you've ever wanted to know about a hippo

Answer 5

The word hippopotamus means river horse.

Answer 6

considered the most dangerous animal in Africa ,because they have killed more people than anything else ,
they are very aggressive ,because OF LOSS OF HABITAT,due to droughts ,and expanding populations and agriculture
and they are very territorial

Answer 7

It's a little bigger on the backside than me, and a lot less friendly:)~