HOME: River areas with grassland and marshes of Africa
LIFE SPAN: 35 years in the wild, 45 years in the zoo.
LOOKS: The hippo is 12 to 15 feet long and weights 2500 to 5000 pounds,
about the size of a car! Its color is dark brown with pink around the mouth
and eyes. The lower teeth are used for
clipping grass, and the uppers tusks are used for fighting. The skin
is thick and rough, with almost no hair. The skin glands make a red oil
to keep the hide moist. A hippo's eyes, ears and nose are raised so that
the hippo can see, hear, and breathe while the rest of his body is
under water. Each foot has 4 toes.
FOOD: Grass and aquatic plants.
HABITS: Herds are made up of 20 to 30 female hippos and offspring. Male
hippos live alone or form groups outside of the herd. Hippos spend most
of the day in the water and they eat on
land at night.
