Hippopotamus

 
Setswana Name:  Kubu
 
Scientific Name: 

Hippopotamus amphibius
 
 

The hippopotamus, whose hide alone can weigh half a ton, is the third-largest living land mammal, after elephants and white rhinos. It was considered a female deity of pregnancy in ancient Egypt, but in modern times has been wiped out of that country because of the damage it inflicts on crops. The hippopotamus continues to thrive in other parts of Africa.
 
A hippo’s foot has four webbed toes which splay out to distribute weight evenly and therefore adequately support it on land. The grayish body has very thick skin which is virtually hairless. The hippopotamus has neither sweat nor sebaceous glands, relying on water or mud to keep cool. It does, however, secrete a viscous red fluid which protects the animal’s skin against the sun and is possibly a healing agent. The hippo’s flat, paddle-like tail is used to spread excrement, which marks territory borders and indicates status of an individual.
 

Hippopotamuses love water, which is why the Greeks named them the "river horse." Hippos spend up to 16 hours a day submerged in rivers and lakes to keep their massive bodies cool under the hot African sun. Hippos are graceful in water, good swimmers, and can hold their breath underwater for up to six minutes. However, they are often large enough to simply walk or stand on the lake floor, or lie in the shallows. Their eyes and nostrils are located high on their heads, which allows them to see and breathe while mostly submerged.

Hippopotamuses have a flexible social system defined by hierarchy and by food and water conditions. Usually they are found in mixed groups of about fifteen individuals held by a territorial bull, but in periods of drought large numbers are forced to congregate near limited pools of water. This overcrowding disrupts the hierarchical system, resulting in even higher levels of aggression, with the oldest and strongest males most dominant. Old scars and fresh, deep wounds are signs of daily fights that are accompanied by many vocalizations.

 
Reproduction
Mating takes place in the water, and after a gestation period of between 225-257 days, a single calf weighing between 25-55kg is born.
A single calf is born either on land or in shallow water. In water, the mother helps the newborn to the surface, later teaching it to swim. Newly born hippos are relatively small,  and are protected by their mothers, not only from crocodiles and lions but from male hippos that, oddly enough, do not bother them on land but attack them in water. Young hippos can only stay under water for about half a minute, but adults can stay submerged up to six minutes. Young hippos can suckle under water by taking a deep breath, closing their nostrils and ears and wrapping their tongue tightly around the teat to suck. This procedure must be instinctive, because newborns suckle the same way on land. A young hippo begins to eat grass at three weeks, but its mother continues to suckle it for about a year. Newborns often climb on their mothers' backs to rest.
 
Habitat
Hippos occur in the Okavango River and its swamp delta, the Chobe, Boteti and Limpopo rivers. In the Okavango delta they are distributed throughout the northern parts, but may reach far south in seasons of high flood.
 

Food
The hippopotamus is a selective grazer and eats grass only. In areas with high hippo populations, considerable damage can be done to grazing areas near water. Hippos are surprisingly agile and often traverse steep banks each night to graze on grass. They exit and enter the water at the same spots and graze for four to five hours, covering one or two miles, with extended forays of up to five miles. Their modest appetites are due to their sedentary life, which does not require high outputs of energy

Since their habitat is often encroached upon by farmers and tourists and because they are so territorial, the hippopotamus is the most dangerous animal in Africa. Hippopotamuses kill crocodiles and lions and are even responsible for more human deaths than any other African animal. The hippo does not hunt humans, however, it defends its own territory vigorously. Approach hippos with care, or do not approach them at all.