~ HIPPO-TISTICAL FACTS ~

• The only land animals larger than hippos are elephants and rhinocerosesre than 40 years old in the wild.
• Hippos eat only vegetation - grasses and water plants.
• Baby hippos are called calves. They often nurse underwater.
• Lions, crocodiles, leopards, hyenas, and wild dogs often kill baby hippos, but adult hippos are rarely attacked.
• The common hippo's close relative is the pygmy hippopotamus. Its scientific name is Choeropsis liberiensis
• A hippo is 12 to 15 feet (4 to 5 meters) long and weighs from 5,000 to 8,000 pounds (2,300 to 3,600 kilograms).
• Baby hippos are born underwater. They can swim almost from the minute they're born.
• People used to think that hippos sweat blood. Actually, hippos? sweat has an oily red pigment in it?not blood-that helps protect and lubricate their skin
• 'Hippopotamus' comes from two Greek words that mean 'river horse.' However, hippos are more closely related to pigs than to horses.
• Hippos can live to be more than 40 years old in the wild.
• Hippos' toes are webbed, which helps them paddle through the water.
• A hippo's tail is about 22 inches (56 centimeters) long
• Nutrients from the hippo's dung provide food for microorganisms, which in turn are food for fish.
• Hippopotamuses are aggressive, do not fear humans, and are considered one of Africa's more dangerous animals
• Hippopotamuses live in rivers and lakes in central and southern Africa.
• Two tusks, or canine teeth, in the hippo's lower jaw can grow more than a foot (30 centimeters) long.
• Female hippos are able to have babies at about seven years old.
• The scientific name for the common hippo is Hippopotamus amphibius.

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(1) comments

Hollar Back ya All:

sounds like you.... -mishi

# posted by  Mishi : December 21, 2004 1:44 PM

 

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