Hippopotamus Pictures

How hippos manage their young

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pH1ieIkZRM&feature=relmfu

Hippos Assert Control Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJdiyPOLaT0

Unique Information

Many hippopotamuses are native to sub-Saharan Africa. A hippos Swahili name is Kiboko. They are also very sensitive to sun so they spend most of their time in water and using the water and mud to keep cool. On average an adult male hippo weighs about 3,200 to 4,000 pounds, and an adult female weighs about 2,900 to 3,300 pounds. They can grow to be about 13 feet long and five feet tall. There average lifespan is about 50 years. Hippos like the habitat of rivers, swamps, and protected areas. There predators are humans, lions, and crocodiles. Hippos are also herbivorous mammals. They are very aggresive animals and a sign to daily ighting is deep scars and fresh. An adult hippo can be underwater or about six minutes, but a newborn can only be underwater or a half a minute.

Digestive System

A hippopotamus has a very similar digestive system to other hooved mammals. They have lips that are about 70 centimeters long that helps clip grass and other vegetation off and grind it up into a pulp so it is easier to be swallowed. Since they do not regurgitate this pulp their system is ineective compared to other grazers. The food then travels down the esophogus and is digested in the stomach. Then ater digestion, the waste is excreted.

Circulatory System

A hippopotamus has a closed circulatory system with a four chambered heart, just like humans have. The blooded pumped through the veins and arteries to supply the hippo with oxygen and and nutrients that is stored in the blood. It is then returned to the heart where it is oxygenated again.

Reproductive System

Hippopotamuses reach sexual maturity at around age eight. The have a calf about every two to three years and they have one calf at a time, and this happens from age eight until the end of their life. They give birth to live young. The gestation period is seven to eight months which many mammals can be longer, like an elephants is 22 months. Hippos are born under water and swim to the surace to take their first breath. A newborn hippo is about 50 inches long and is between 60 and 110 pounds. Their mother produces milk or her cal until they are about six to eight months old, until they are weaned.