Hippo Facts || Fascinating things about hippos you probably don't know 🦛🦛 🦛

Africa is the world's second largest continent and the hottest. The diverse regions provide a huge variety of wildlife. It's also home to the second largest land mammal in the world, the hippopotamus. It's often regarded as one of the most dangerous animals in Africa. It's so extraordinary. But why is the hippopotamus so unique? Welcome to Animal Educate. Today we're going to be looking at the hippopotamus. Members of the family have a semi-aquatic lifestyle and thought to be more closely related to whales than other hoofed animals. The hippopotamus lives along rivers and lakes in Africa. While smaller, the less aquatic pygmy hippopotamus, they're restricted to swampy forest areas in West Africa. The name hippopotamus means river horse. The hippo loves the water and spends most of the day in rivers, lakes and ponds across Africa. Today we're going to focus on hippopotamus amphibious, otherwise known as the common hippopotamus. The hippopotamus belongs to the order Artiodactylae and the family Hippopotamidae. The genus is hippopotamus and the species is amphibious. The common hippopotamus are found in many countries throughout the sub-Saharan Africa in suitable wetland habitats. Their population is stable according to the IUCN, unlike its cousin the pygmy hippo which is unfortunately declining. Across the range of the common hippo there's about 115,000 to 130,000 but overall the population sizes tend to be much smaller when there's less available habitat or the higher density of human populations. Their system is terrestrial, freshwater and marine and their habitat type is forest, the savannah, shrubland, grasslands, wetlands, marine and marine coastal. The hippopotamus is semi-aquatic so the body of a hippo is well suited for aquatic and terrestrial life. They have a long heavy body with short, surprisingly insubstantial looking legs. The enormous head features jaws that allow a huge gape up to 150 degrees. They carry long tusk-like canines and incisor teeth. It's capable of chomping through alligators, boats and people. The nose is wide and covered with sensitive bristles. The tail is short and flattened. Adaptations for life in the water include webbed toes and they also have senses on top so they can be almost fully submerged and remain receptive to its surroundings. So their eyes, their ears and their nostrils are all located on the top of their head and they have the ability to close the nostrils underwater as well as the ears. Although they can hold their breath for approximately seven minutes, most adult hippos will resurface every three to five minutes to breathe. This is an automatic process. It's a truly amphibious mammal. The skin is grey with a pinkish tinge on the underside and around the eyes and skin folds. It's almost hairless in most parts and extremely thick and fatty. Their skin is unusual in that there are no sebaceous glands. Instead there are mucous glands which are basically modified sweat glands that produce a viscous fluid to keep the skin moist when exposed to air. This fluid, which is pink due to the presence of a red pigment, may also protect against infection and sunburn. Sometimes it's been mistaken for blood. Its skin has a thin outer layer which dries out easily and it's very sensitive to bites of pests such as flies. The hide soon cracks unless moistened regularly in water or mud but the skin's inner layer is up to 3.5 centimetres thick. The hippopotamus weighs a whopping 1.4 tonnes and despite its bulk it's a graceful swimmer and can run faster than any human. It's also surprisingly agile when clambering up the rocky precipices beside rivers. They can walk underwater with grace and trot with surprising rapidity. Hippopotamuses are very loud animals. Their snorts, grumbles and wheezes have been measured at 115 decibels and they also use subsonic vocalisations to communicate. The stomach has four chambers in which enzymes break down to tough cellulose in the grass that it eats. However some don't chew the cud so they're not true ruminants like antelope and cattle. In the wild the hippopotamus will live for around 40 years. In captivity they tend to live longer and may reach up to 50 years old. They're generally considered herbivores but they've been observed to eat small animals and scavenging so some would consider them omnivores. Their main diet is grass and they move inland at night to graze. They generally follow trails marked by dung piles that lead to its feeding grounds. Each night an individual will eat about 88 pounds of grass. Although their system might be slow the hippopotamus requires less food than animals of a similar size because much of its life is spent supported in water. Their hard lips pluck the grass when they're grazing. The hippopotamus is social and they have groups called schools, bloats, pods or sieges. The schools of hippos usually consist of 10 to 30 members including both females and males although some groups have as many as 200 individuals. The school is usually led by a dominant male despite the size. They have temporary herds so during the dry season they have to wander to find dredging. Instead of each animal returning to its home area by day some use a nearby pool as a short-term stopover therefore this extends its grazing range. This leads to large gatherings at certain pools but these lack long-term social or territorial structures. Despite their huge bulk the hippopotamus is generally placid. Occasionally they are vicious and they're often very curious. They are regarded to be one of the world's most dangerous land mammals. Fights for possession of a territory can be fierce and the hippopotamus may inflict considerable injuries with their huge canines. Though minor conflicts are often settled by threat displays such as a yawn and to warn off rival males they open their huge mouths and display their long curved canines. They also make loud grunts and aggressive splashes in the water. Territorial conflicts between males are not uncommon particularly where population densities are high. If after a period of roaring and ritualized displaying if neither male gives way a fight will ensue. They'll use their lower canines as weapons and a battle may last for hours and result in serious injury even death. The dung is used as a communication device. A more powerful male hippo will throw dung from its tail to a less powerful male. When defecating hippos will swish their tails back and forth scattering their droppings like a muck spreader. The resulting slapping noise echoes downstream and helps to proclaim territory. The hippopotamus is known as one of the most aggressive creatures in the world and is often regarded as one of the most dangerous animals in Africa. They're most territorial when they're in the water. It's estimated that they kill 500 people per year in Africa. They're well equipped to cause a considerable amount of damage. They're polygamous meaning they have more than one mate. Only about 10% of males have adequate territory to acquire a mate and they win over the females through a series of fecal flinging and vocalizations. Potential mates are attracted to this display. When foreplay ensues they engage in playing or splashing around in the water before copulation. They mate in the water with the female partially submerged. Eight months after conception at the height of the wet season females give birth to one calf either on land or underwater. The mothers then leave the herd for a short time to bond with their calves underwater and after a few weeks the calves will exit the water and feed on the grass. However, lactation can extend for 18 months or longer. Female hippos called cows give birth every two years. The mother is fiercely protective and the calf has few natural predators apart from big cats and hyenas. Calves will continue to remain with their mothers after weaning which is about six to eight months until they're about five years old. In this way family groups develop. Baby hippos weigh about 121 pounds when they're born and they struggle to their feet only minutes after birth. They stay close to their mothers at all times. Hippopotamuses are ecosystem engineers which means they create and change the land in and around the wetlands. They do this by moving soil around and they create channels in the water and paths on land that redirect the water. This also creates habitat and shelter for smaller creatures. The nutrients in the excrements of most grazers largely end up back in the savannah where they're reabsorbed by the plants. This isn't the case with the hippo. Hippos are unique because they cross the line of ecosystems living on both land and water means they're important providers of nutrients. They're eating lots on land and then taking it back to where they rest in the water and while in the water their digestion becomes active. They help enrich wetland plants and animal life so they provide a sort of natural fertilizer that's moved across these boundaries. Annually they provide over 600,000 kilograms of dung to African lakes and rivers. Primary threats to the common hippopotamus are habitat loss or degradation and illegal and unregulated hunting for meat and ivory which is found in the canine teeth. Habitat loss and conflict with agricultural development and farming are a major problem for hippo conservation in many countries. Due to their reliance on freshwater habitats it puts them at odds with human populations and adds to their vulnerability. This is because of the growing pressure on freshwater resources across Africa. What have you learned about the hippopotamus? We've looked at anatomy, feeding, behavior, reproduction, their role in the environment and threats. As you can see the hippopotamus is an amazing animal with many features that allow it to help the environment. They are in need of help so if you're interested there's many organizations out there that are helping to protect the hippo so if you want to help you can always follow one of the links in the description and find out more information. Thank you so much for watching today guys, I really hope you've enjoyed the episode. If you've liked the video please do give it a like and subscribe to the channel and hit that bell if you want to receive alerts for regular content. Until next time!