Facts about Hippo

Adult hippos cannot swim and are not buoyant.

The eyes, ears, and nostrils of hippos are placed high on the roof of the skull.

The territories of hippos exist to establish mating rights.

The process of surfacing and breathing is automatic, and even a hippo sleeping underwater will rise and breathe without waking.

Most hippos in zoos today were born in captivity.

A study of Palestinian children diagnosed PTSD in nearly one third of the participants, most of whom were refugees, males, and working.

A hippo's lifespan is typically 40 to 50 years.

Their birth rates are lower than in the wild, but this is attributed to zoos' not wanting to breed as many hippos as possible, since hippos are large and relatively expensive animals to maintain.

Hippos were also well-known to the ancient Egyptians, where the hippo was recognized as a ferocious denizen of the Nile.

A study of ginseng's effects on rats show that while both white ginseng and red ginseng reduce the incidence of cancer, the effects appear to be greater with red ginseng (Yun et al.

Hippos are one of the few mammals that give birth under water, along with Cetaceans and Sirenians (manatees and dugongs).

One of the most ancient names for Delhi is Dilhaka.

Later rock paintings and engravings showing hippos being hunted have been found in the mountains of the central Sahara dated 4,000–5,000 years ago near Djanet in the Tassili n'Ajjer Mountains.

Set's consort Tawaret was also seen as part hippo.

Likely for the same reason, hippos are retromingent—that is, they urinate backwards.

Zambia, with an estimated 40,000 hippos, and Tanzania, with some 20,000–30,000 hippos, contain the largest populations of the estimated 125,000 to 150,000 hippos remaining in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Hippos are considered megafauna, but unlike all other African megafauna, hippos have adapted for a semi-aquatic life in freshwater lakes and rivers.

Genetic evidence suggests that common hippos in Africa experienced a marked population expansion during or after the Pleistocene Epoch that is attributed to an increase in water bodies at the end of the era.

Within the pods, the hippos tend to segregate by gender.

The Behemoth from the Book of Job, 40:15–24 is also thought by some to be based on a hippo.

Usually a territorial bull and a challenging bachelor will stop fighting when it is clear that one hippo is stronger.

Adult hippos typically resurface to breathe every three to five minutes.

When hippos become overpopulated, or when a habitat starts to shrink, bulls will sometimes attempt to kill infants, but this behavior is not common under normal conditions.

All hippos, even those with different diets, secrete the pigments, so it does not appear that food is the source of the pigments.

Male hippos appear to continue growing throughout their lives; females reach a maximum weight at around age 25.

Meshari (The Missal) by Gjon Buzuku, published by himself in 1555, is considered as the first literary work written in Albanian.

Hippopotamids therefore are deeply nested within the family Anthracotheriidae.

A recent theory of the origins of Hippopotamidae suggests that hippos and whales shared a common semi-aquatic ancestor that branched off from other artiodactyls around 60 million years ago (mya).

Hippos have (rarely) been filmed eating carrion, usually close to the water.

Silver coins with a hippo's image were minted that year.

The diet of hippos consists mostly of terrestrial grasses, even though they spend most of their time in the water.

Reasons for poaching include the belief that hippos are harmful to society, and also for money.

Until 1909, naturalists grouped hippos with pigs, based on molar patterns.

Baby hippos are born underwater at a weight between 25 and 45 kg (60–110 lb) and an average length of around 127 cm (50 in) and must swim to the surface to take their first breath.

The largest pods can contain up to 100 hippos.

Aging is important when determining life span of most organisms, bacterium, a virus or even a prion.

Some incidents of hippo cannibalism have been documented, but it is believed to be the behavior of distressed or sick hippos, and not healthy behavior.

A study examining mitochondrial DNA from skin biopsies taken from 13 sampling locations, considered genetic diversity and structure among hippo populations across the continent.

Hippos have remained popular zoo animals since Obaysch, and generally breed well in captivity.

Hippos have also been popular cartoon characters, where their rotund frame is used for humorous effect.

Nile crocodiles, lions, and spotted hyenas are known to prey on young hippos.

A red hippo also represented the Ancient Egyptian god Set; the thigh is the "phallic leg of Set," symbolic of virility.

Hippos rarely kill each other, even in territorial challenges.

Studies of hippos in Zambia and South Africa also showed evidence of births occurring at the start of the wet season.

Hippos can live in the water or on land.

Of the estimated 125,000 to 150,000 hippos throughout Sub-Saharan Africa; Zambia and Tanzania possess the largest populations.

Hippos like to dwell in places with permanent water that is not too deep.

Hippos leave the water at dusk and travel inland, sometimes up to 8 kilometers (5 mi), to graze on short grass, their main source of food.

Young hippos are buoyant and usually move by swimming, propelling themselves with kicks of their hind legs.

When hippos emerge from the water to graze, they do so individually.

Like many zoo animals, hippos were traditionally displayed in concrete exhibits.

Hippos have traditionally been an important food source for native people in Africa, and their teeth (with superior ivory) and hides are also very valuable.

Hippos have the unique ability to hold their head partially above the water and send out a cry that travels through both water and air; hippos above and under water will respond.

All branches of the anthracotheres, except that which evolved into Hippopotamidae, became extinct during the Pliocene without leaving any descendants.

Over prolonged periods, hippos can divert the paths of swamps and channels.

The stomach anatomy of a hippo is not suited to carnivory, and meat-eating is likely caused by aberrant behavior or nutritional stress.

Two distinct pigments have been identified in the secretions, one red (hipposudoric acid) and one orange (norhipposudoric acid).

The hippo population declined most dramatically in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The sale of hippo meat is illegal, but black-market sales are difficult for Virunga National Park officers to track.

Frequent targets of their aggression include crocodiles, which often inhabit the same river habitat as hippos and prey on young hippos.

Hippos spend most of their days wallowing in the water or the mud, with the other members of their pod.

Hippos are very aggressive towards humans, whom they commonly attack whether in boats or on land with no apparent provocation.

Ancestors of European hippos found their way to many islands of the Mediterranean during the Pleistocene.

The Hippopotamidae are believed to have evolved in Africa; the oldest known hippopotamid is the genus Kenyapotamus which lived in Africa from 16 to 18 mya.

The pigs and peccaries have only one small chamber before the abomasum, and hippos (like the camelids and tragulids) have two chambers before the true stomach (in other words, a three-chambered stomach).

A mother typically gives birth to only one hippo, although twins also occur.

The largest pods can contain up to 100 hippos.

The exhibit was so popular that the hippos became the logo of the Toledo Zoo.

The hippo can maintain these higher speeds for only a few hundred meters.

The decline in hippos has been linked to Hunregulated hunting and poaching.