WATER HOME
Hippos need to come out on the land every day for grazing. However, their real home and refuge is in water. They do almost everything there; even sleep, mate, give birth and breastfeed their young. Find out more about their water life!
BREASTFEEDING BELOW THE SURFACE
Young hippos usually drink their mother’s milk under the surface and keep their nostrils and ears closed so that water doesn’t seep into them. This behaviour is so ingrained that they do it even during occasional feeding on land, where it’s not needed.
HOPELESS AT SWIMMING
Hippos actually don’t know how to swim at all. Instead, they let themselves be carried by their buoyancy and bounce along the bottom when moving through the water with the ease of a prima ballerina. That’s why they seek shallow water where they can easily reach the bottom.
FIVE MINUTES ON ONE BREATH
An adult hippo can last more than five minutes under water. Usually, however, he surfaces to breathe after one and a half minutes, and young hippos every half a minute. Hippos instinctively surface even while sleeping without waking up!
ALWAYS NEAR THE WATER
On cooler days, hippos like to rest on the shore; they also leave the water in the evening to graze. When in danger, however, they return to the water with lightning speed. They can’t go long without water because their skin quickly dries out in the air and cracks.
EYES ON TOP OF THE HEAD
The eyes and nostrils of the hippopotamus have moved to the top of the head. This is typical for many animals that swapped life on land for an amphibious life, such as crocodiles and frogs. It enables them to watch events above the surface and still breathe, even though most of the body is below the water.
IN A FISH SALON
Hippos look for shoals of certain types of fish to indulge in beauty salon care. They hold out their massive bodies, stretch their mouths and wait for the fish to get rid of the parasites and germs in every fold of their skin.
By cleaning the hippos, the fish spice up their diet. Each species focuses on a different part of the hippo’s body.
- Barbel fish clean the legs and feet
- Labeo fish don’t hesitate to swim into the mouth to remove residue from the teeth or palate.