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Hippos are semi-aquatic mammals found in southern
Africa.
Hippo Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Hippopotamidae
Genus: Hippopotamus
Species: Amphibius
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Other Names: Common Hippopotamus, Water
Horse
Hippo in Foreign Languages:
Afrikaans: seekoei
Arabic: fáras al-nahr / HiSaan
al-baHr
Armenian: getaji
Azeri: begemot
Basque: hipopotamo
Belarusian: behemót
Bosnian: nilski konj
Bulgarian: hipopotam
Catalan: hipopòtam
Chinese: héma
Czech: hroch
Danish: flodhest
Dutch: nijlpaard
Estonian: jõehobu
Finnish: virtahepo
French: hippopotame
Georgian: hipopotami
German: Flusspferd / Nilpferd
Greek: hippopotamos / ippopotamos
Greenlandic: imermiutarsuaq
Hungarian: víziló
Icelandic: flóðhestur
Italian: ippopotamo
Japanese: kaba
Korean: hama
Latin: hippopotamus
Latvian: begemots / hipopotams
/ nilzirgs Lithuanian: hipopotamas
/ begemotas
Macedonian: nílski konj
Malay: badak air
Navajo: tééhooltsódii
Norwegian: Bokmål: flodhest
Nynorsk: flodhest
Polish: hipopotam
Portuguese: hipopótamo
Romanian: hipopotam
Russian: gippopotám / begemót
Serbian: povodni konj / nilski
konj
Slovakian: hroch
Slovenian: povodni konj / nilski
konj
Somali: jeer
Spanish: hipopótamo
Swahili: kiboko
Swedish: flodhäst
Tamil: nIrAnai
Turkish: su aygiri
Ukrainian: hipopotám / behemót
Welsh: afonfarch / hipopotamws
Zulu: ingexe
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Size: Hippos are 13 feet long and are approximately
5 feet tall. Hippos weigh up to 31/2 tons. The hippopotamus
is the third largest land mammal.
Habitat: Hippopotamus are found in sub-Saharan
Africa. Hippos are semi-aquatic, inhabiting rivers,
lakes and mangrove swamps.
Description: Hippos have large teeth and tusks.
Hippopotamus have a barrel-shaped torso, and nearly
hairless body, with stubby legs.
Diet: Hippos are herbivores, the hippopotamus
feeds on plants including, soft short grass, and fruits
that have fallen. An adult hippo eats approximately
150 lbs of vegetation (grasses) a day.
Behavior: They may become dangerous if they
feel challenged or threatened. Hippos wallow in the
mud, to keep their body temperatures cool.
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Communication: Hippos communicate to
others in their group, through grunts and bellows.
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Did You Know?
The word Hippopotamus is Greek for
river horse.
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Gestation: Hippos carry their young for approximately
240 days.
Birth: Hippos both reproduce and give birth
in the water. Hippos give birth to a single calf at
a time. Hippo calves are born weighing 55-120 lbs.
Sexually Mature: Female hippos sexually mature
at 5-6 years of age, males reach sexual maturity at
around 7.5 years.
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Life Span: Hippos have an average life
span of 50 years. Lions and crocodiles are predators
of hippootamus.
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Did You Know?
Young hippos can only stay under water
for about half a minute, but adults
can stay submerged up to six minutes.
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Social Structure: Male hippo bulls preside over
groups of 5 to 30 females and their young, they are
territorial in the water but not on land. A group of
hippos is referred to as a pod, herd, dale, or bloat.
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