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With a great whoosh and a snort, a seemingly quiet African river suddenly erupts with the appearance of a great huge beast. Then whoosh, another surfaces, and another, and another. One by one, about 15 hippopotamuses rise to the surface of the calm water—some with a great deal of snorting and hissing as they exhale, others more quietly. At the surface, they each take a breath of fresh air.
The group of hippos is led by one large male. The other members are females, their young, and a few young adult males. The leader of the group keeps control of his mating territory by fighting off rivals. When a male hippo in the group challenges him, the leader opens his enormous mouth, revealing long canines. Often the display is enough to make the challenging hippopotamus back off. Sometimes, however, hippos fight aggressively, leading to deep wounds and sometimes even death.
The family group of hippos spends most of the day in the water. Staying submerged helps a hippo stay cool in the hot, tropical climate where it lives. The hippo’s nose, ears, and eyes are on the top of its head, and they protrude from the water while the rest of its head and its body lie beneath the surface. That way a hippo can breathe, see, and hear even while its body is submerged. When a hippo sinks completely underwater, its nose and ears automatically close so that no water seeps in. It’s an excellent swimmer and can hold its breath for about five minutes. Hippos can even walk along the bottoms of rivers and lakes.
At dusk, hippos leave their watery daytime spot, lumber onto land, and walk as far as 5 miles (8 kilometers) from the water to graze on short grasses, their main food. Grazing until dawn, a hippo may eat up to 150 pounds (68 kilograms) of grass a night. They avoid the heat of the sun by returning to a river or lake before sunrise.
Text by Catherine D. Hughes
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