THE HIPPO 20250823181870RT1PUB

The common hippopotamus can weigh between 1,300 and 4,500 kilograms. The shape of its body, which is grey with pink tones, allows this amphibious animal to move easily through the aquatic environment. Its ears, eyes and nostrils, which it can close and open at will, are located on the top of its head so that, by only emerging a little, it can monitor its surroundings while the rest of its body remains submerged. It has smooth, oily skin, devoid of hair and with a very thin epidermis. It has very short legs and a very large mouth and tusks.

It feeds basically on grass that it obtains from the fertile soil at the edges of the water, but it also eats aquatic plants that it pulls from the bottom of the river and eats calmly on the surface of the water. In the vicinity of settlements, hippos can break into crops to feed and are capable of destroying an entire plantation in a single night. For this reason, in many areas of their distribution area, they are persecuted by the local population, who consider them a serious threat to crops.

At the beginning of the dry season, the heat period begins and about eight months after copulation, during the rainy season, the only calf is born, which weighs more than 40 kg at birth. Birth generally takes place in the water so that the mother does not crush the baby under its great weight. After seven years, the male is ready to reproduce, although he continues to develop his body for much longer and does not usually conquer his own territory until he is 20 years old. They usually live up to 40 years, although there are specimens that live more than 50.

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