Description: huge
body supported on short, pillar-like legs, each with
four toes ending in hoof-like nails, placed well apart.
Eyes are raised on top of the large, flattish head.
Small ears and nostrils slit-like and high up on the
muzzle. Hairless body, except for sparse bristles on
the muzzle, inside the ears and on the tip of the short
tail. Large mouth armed with canine tusks; these average
0.75m but may be over 1.5m long including the long root
embedded in the gums. Pygmy hippo is similar in appearance
but its head is smaller in proportion to the body and
it is more pig-like in shape.
Size: up
to 4m in length; 1.4m at the shoulder. Weighs up to
4 tonnes. Pygmy hippo is 1.5m long, 0.8m at the shoulder
and weighs up to 270kg.
Food: mainly
grass and some water plants.
The common hippopotamus
is the second largest living land animal, only rivalled
by the great Indian rhinoceros (the elephant is the
largest). Its name means 'river horse' and the hippo
spends most of its time in water.
Hippo Habits
Territory;
common hippos live in groups, sometimes known as schools
(except for the pygmy hippo which is usually found singly
or in pairs). There are 20 - 100 in each group. In the
centre of each group's territory there is a creche occupied
by females and youngsters; the adult males each have
a separate area, known as a refuge, around the creche.
The creche is on a sandbar in midstream or on a raised
bank of the river or lake. Special paths lead from the
males' refuges to the feeding grounds.
The female hippos are
the leaders of the schools. When the young males leave
the creche, they have to take up a refuge beyond the
ring of adult males' refuges lying around the edge of
the creche. Each then has to try and win his way to
an inner refuge by fighting - and this entitles him
to mate with one of the females.
Fights can be very fierce.
The hippo's familiar yawn is actually an aggressive
gesture, a challenge to fight. The two contestants rear
up out of the water, huge mouths wide open, trying to
slash each other with their long tusks. Terrible gashes
are inflicted but they quickly heal. The aim of a fight
is to break a foreleg of an opponent - this is fatal
because the animal can no longer walk on land to feed.
There are strict rules concerning the behaviour of the
males. Outside the breeding season a female may pay
a social call on a male and he may visit her - but he
must enter the creche with no sign of aggression. If
a female gets up on her feet, the male must lie down
- and he may only get up when she lies down again! A
male who does not keep to these rules is driven out
by attacking females.
Daily Life; a
hippo spends most of its day basking on a sandbar, or
lazing in the water with just its ears, eyes and nostrils,
and perhaps its back and top of the head, exposed. It
feeds mostly at night, coming on land to eat mainly
grass. During one night an individual may wander up
to 20 miles but usually does not venture far from water.
The areas of grass, kept short by the hippos, are known
as hippo lawns.
If frightened, common
hippos rush into the water but pygmy hippos prefer to
head for the undergrowth. Pygmy hippos are very shy
and hard to find. They are usually found singly or in
pairs. They are not usually aggressive unless disturbed.
Breeding;
when the female hippo is ready to breed she goes out
to choose a mate and he must behave in a respectful
manner as she enters his refuge.
The baby is born after
a gestation period of 210 - 255 days. It is 1m long,
0.5m at the shoulder and weighs 27kg. The birth may
take place in the water but normally it is on land,
the mother preparing a bed of trampled reeds. 5 minutes
after its birth, the baby can walk, run or swim. The
mother soon takes her baby for walks on land, not along
the usual paths taken when going to the feeding grounds,
but all over the place. She teaches it to walk level
with her neck, so she can keep an eye on it, and it
must stop when she stops. In water the baby must swim
level with her shoulder so that she can quickly protect
it with her body from any aggressive males. Later, when
going to the feeding pastures, she teaches it to walk
at heel.
A mother hippo is very
strict with her baby and if it is disobedient she punishes
it by lashing it with her head, often rolling it over
and over. She may even slash it with her tusks. When
the baby cowers in submission, its mother stops punishing
it and begins to lick and caress it.
Babysitting;
if a female leaves the creche for any reason she places
her baby in charge of another female who may already
be supervising several others. The young hippos play
with others of similar age, the females together playing
a form of hide-and-seek or rolling over in the water
with stiff legs. Young males play similar games but
also indulge in mock fights.
Hippos and Man
Common hippo;
information collected from 34 African countries
suggests that the total population of the common hippo
in the whole of Africa is about 157,000 animals. They
are not common in West Africa and the population is
split into a number of small groups totalling about
7,000 spread over 19 countries. East Africa has about
70,000 and Southern Africa's total is around 80,000.
Numbers are decreasing
in 18 African countries and are stable in only six.
In only two countries, Congo and Zambia, are hippo numbers
increasing. Populations most at risk are those in West
Africa. Many of the groups there contain less than 50
animals each and in order to be relatively free from
the risk of extinction, each population should probably
number around 500.
The most serious threat
to the future of the hippo is loss of habitat. There
is usually no shortage of water for daytime retreats,
except in times of serious drought, but there are reports
of loss of grazing habitat to cultivation.
Hunting for meat, skins
or for the trophy trade, occurs in a few countries but
is probably not a serious threat.
Hippos do come into conflict
with people quite often. Crops are damaged and fishermen
kill the hippo because of its attacks on them. As the
human population increases, this conflict is likely
to become more serious. There is also the possibility
that the canine teeth could be used in trade as a substitute
for elephant ivory - the species would be at serious
risk if this were to happen.
At the moment, the common
hippo does not appear to be in danger of extinction
but it is important to make sure that all hippo groups
are protected to ensure their future survival. It must
be remembered that the hippo can be a dangerous animal
and any conservation plans have to take into consideration
the safety of human populations.
Pygmy hippo;
the pygmy hippo occurs mainly in Liberia, where
it is widely distributed although it does not occur
in large populations anywhere. The numbers are unknown
but probably total a few thousand at the most. It is
described as 'vulnerable' amongst the threatened animals
of the world. Although numbers have probably declined
recently there is, as yet, not enough evidence to class
it as actually 'endangered'.
Although it is fully
protected legally in all countries, the pygmy hippo
is hunted for meat throughout its range except, apparently,
in Guinea - perhaps it is too hard to find. It is not
known for sure whether hunting is a threat to its survival,
but with such small, scattered populations any killing
is bound to have an effect. The main threat, however,
is loss of habitat through forest clearance, particularly
in Liberia, and, if the pygmy hippo is to survive, the
forests in which it lives should be protected. Fortunately,
it does breed well in captivity and there are 350 animals
in collections around the world. One day it may be possible
to reintroduce captive-bred animals into suitable, protected
forests.
The data used in this
last section, 'Hippos and Man', was compiled and provided
by The World Conservation Monitoring Centre under sponsorship
by BT.
