hippos of uganda
Hippopotamuses are one of the largest extant mammals in the world. Hippos are considered megafauna, but unlike all other African megafauna, hippos have adapted for a semi-aquatic life in freshwater lakes and rivers.
Hippopotamuses (the anomalous plural hippopotami is sometimes used � the correct Greek plural hippopotamodes is never used in English; hippos can be used as a short plural), are gregarious, living in groups of up to 40 animals; such a group is called a pod, herd, dale, or bloat. A male hippopotamus is known as a bull, a female as a cow, and a baby as a calf. They are also known as the Common Hippopotamus or the Nile Hippopotamus.
The hippopotamus is recognizable for its barrel-shaped torso, hairless body, stubby legs and tremendous size. It is similar in size to the White Rhinoceros; only elephants are consistently larger and despite its stocky shape and short legs, it can easily outrun a human. Despite its popularity in zoos and cuddly portrayal as gentle giants in fiction, the hippopotamus is among the most dangerous and aggressive of all mammals. There are an estimated 125,000 to 150,000 hippos remaining throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, of which Zambia (40,000) and Tanzania (20,000-30,000) have the largest populations. They are still threatened by poaching for their meat and ivory canine teeth, and by habitat loss.
Despite their physical resemblance to pigs and other terrestrial even-toed ungulates, the hippos' closest living relatives are cetaceans�whales, porpoises and the like. The common ancestor of whales and hippos split from other even-toed ungulates around 60 million years ago. The earliest known hippopotamus fossils, belonging to the genus Kenyapotamus in Africa, date to around 16 million years ago.
Billy, the Pygmy Hippo, or William Johnson Hippopotamus (1920 � October 11, 1955) was one of the most unusual pets ever kept by a President of the United States. In addition to his fame as an exotic presidential pet, Billy is also notable as the common ancestor to most pygmy hippos in American zoos. However, the hippo you see in this photo is not a pygmy hippo, it's just a baby hippo with baby fat, but I'm sure his name was Billy, or at least that's what he told me.
The hippopotamus is semi-aquatic, inhabiting rivers and lakes in sub-Saharan Africa in large groups of up to 40 hippos. During the day they remain cool by staying in the water or mud; reproduction and childbirth both occur in water, where territorial bulls preside over a stretch of river. They emerge at dusk to graze on grass. While hippos rest near each other in territories in the water, grazing is a solitary activity and hippos are not territorial on land.
A hippo's lifespan is typically 40 to 50 years. Donna the Hippo, 56, is the oldest living hippo in captivity. She lives at the Mesker Park Zoo in Evansville, Indiana. The oldest hippo ever was called Tanga; she lived in Munich, Germany, and died in 1995 at the age of 61.
The eyes, ears, and nostrils of hippos are placed high on the roof of the skull. This allows them to be in the water with most of their body submerged in the waters and mud of tropical rivers to stay cool and prevent sunburn. Their general anatomical structure is an adaptation to their riparian lifestyle. Their skeletal structure is graviportal, adapted to carrying the animals' enormous weight. hippopotamuses have legs that are small, relative to other megafauna, because the water in which they live reduces the weight burden. Like other aquatic mammals, the hippopotamus has very little hair.
Baby hippos are born underwater at a weight between 25 and 45 kg (60�110 lb) and an average length of around 127 cm (50 in) and must swim to the surface to take their first breath. A mother typically gives birth to only one hippo, although twins occur at an unknown ratio. The young often rest on their mothers' backs when in water that is too deep for them, and they swim underwater to suckle. They also will suckle on land when the mother leaves the water. Weaning starts between six and eight months after birth and most calves are fully weaned after a year.