Hippos are now only found in scattered pockets across eastern Sub-Saharan Africa, in countries popular for good quality safaris, such as Tanzania ad Kenya. They are the third largest land mammal in the world, weighing in a whopping 3.5 tonnes, and are around 5ft tall and have a length of 13ft. They have very long life-spans of 50 years. Hippos are dependent on river and swampland habitats as they are unable to sweat and thus have to rely on bathing in water to cool themselves down. This is why they are always found exclusively in such habitats. The gestation period is around 8 months, but when a calf is born it only generally weighs up to 55 pounds, so puts on thousands of pounds before it reaches its weight of 3.5 tonnes! Despite popular belief to the contrary, Hippos are actually arguably the most dangerous animal in Africa – not lions – and this is especially true when the males are fighting viciously for breeding rights and over territorial disputes. It is not uncommon for them to charge at humans if they are feeling particularly territorial.
Courtesy of Martin Heigan/flickr