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Hippopotamus amphibius
Hippopotamus amphibius
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Hippopotamus amphibius
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  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author The name litelally means river horse from the Greek hippos - horse - and potamus - river . but there is very little that is horse-like about hippos. The common hippo is unmistikable with a barrel-shaped, almost hairless body weghing in at anything up to 3 tonnes aqlthough half that weight would be a more average figure. Size= some measurements were make by Dr R. M. Laws of the lengths of hippos shot on control in Uganda during the 1960s. The sample contained 20 of each sex, The average length along the back was 271,75 cm about 8ft 10 in for males and females and both measured up to 302 cm. Weight= Where culling has benn carried out and actual weights recordered from dismembered corpses, the results has beeen less spectacular than some of the previous published figures, e.g. Laws (1963), who weighted a large sample in Uganda, found the average weight to 1536 kg for males /max 2065 kg) and 1386 kg for females (max 1716 kg). Ledger (1968) who weighted 4 specimens of each sex, reported similar average weights for East African Hippos 1490 kg for males (range1179-1714 kg) and females 1277 kg (1185-1401). Pinaar et al found similar weights in Kruger Nationalo Park with averages of 1490 for males and 1321 kg for females witha max of 1999 for males and 1674 for females.Information taken from the book The Hippos S K Eltringham. Credits= santuaryretreats - Cesika - natures_experiende - jakerosmarin - rj_endallphotos
Credits to Jay Villemarette director of Museum of Osteology (Oklahoma City) USA
 *This image is copyright of its original author Skeleton of male measures close to 3 mt long not counting the tail with a height at the shoulders of 137 cm.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author Canines: The four teeth of the common hippo consist of four massive, tusk like canines and eight shorter peg like incisors, four each jaw. Both types have open roots and so continue to grow throughout life. The canines which are conpicuosly ridged lengthways, may in the lower jaw, project for about 30 cm (1 ft) from the gum but there is a longer root, some 40 cm in length, bringing the total to 70 cm (about 2ft 4 in). Such large teeth are approaching elephant tusks in size. Information taken from the book The Hippos S K Eltringham. Credits to natural_life - edwardphtgrphy - vlad_ozo
Credits to @fedejp25 @andre.derksen @nimitvirdi @lynfrancey and @edwin.godinho
 *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150116-...r-cannibal
Dr Dudley made the first ever record of hippos eating meat at Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe in 1995. Since then he has been collecting evidence of hippos eating impala, baby elephants and even their own kind. While the cannibalistic incidents still number fewer than a dozen, they have occurred across the animals’ range, from South Africa to Uganda. “If carnivory is driven by dietary deficiencies in hippos then they may become more dangerous during droughts or other times when their access to food is restricted and trying to understand if this is the case will be important,” said Leejiah Dorward who studies the interaction between poor communities and their environment. ( more reading on the site ). 
“Due to its large body size and unusual mouth and dental configurations, the hippo may represent an extreme case in which the predation and scavenging of large mammals by an ungulate species is not constrained by biomechanical factors,” Dudley and his team write. Not only can hippos kill and eat other big animals more easily than other herbivores, the researchers say, the fact that they’re territorial and highly aggressive may facilitate carnivory, putting them in situations where they kill other animals and can get themselves something to eat.
And eat they do. Since Dudley made the first scientific record of carnivory in hippos in 1996, other cases of hippo carnivory and even cannibalism have also been documented. Dudley lists instances where wild hippos have fed on impalas, elephants, kudus, wildebeest, zebras, and other hippos that they either killed themselves or were killed by other predators. Events like these have been seen both during times when carnivory may be a last resort (e.g. droughts when food is scarce), and when it was merely a convenient opportunity, like a mass drowning of wildebeest crossing a river. There are also reports of captive hippos in zoos killing and eating their neighbors, including tapirs, wallabies, flamingoes and pygmy hippos. “Our scientific records, coupled with those of other investigators and observers, demonstrate that the phenomenon of carnivory by hippos is not restricted to particular individuals or local populations but is an inherent characteristic of the behavioral ecology of hippos,” the team writes. Some examples, hard to distinguish from mouthing and feeding but I think they go hand in hand to an extent  
@Pckts :
About #14: completely crazy this photo ! The photograph was supposed to be there at the right moment, if not he would'nt be believed... What about you said at the #13, a story between a zebra and an hippo at the Basel zoo: https://mg.co.za/article/2004-10-14-hipp...-zoo-brawl I remember this story, because for a long time this zebra was very well accepted by the hippo. I saw some postcards showed this "interspecific harmony". Till this day... |
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