The hippo is ranked among Africa’s mega fauna, and is only surpassed in bulk by the elephant and white rhino. These semi-aquatic mammals are unmistakably recognisable by their gargantuan forms and singular features. Hippos are herbivores that wallow in water by day and graze on land at night. They inhabit many of Africa’s freshwater lakes and rivers, swamps and forest streams, south of the Sahara, and are undoubtedly Africa’s reigning inland water-world heavyweights.

The hippo’s proper name is hippopotamus; derived from a combination of the two Greek words meaning ‘river horse’. The Greeks in all their learning could at best relate the hippo to a horse! More recently it was thought the hippo shares a connection with the pig - which it resembles. But today scientists have established that it is more closely related to cetaceans, whose family includes whales, porpoises and dolphins.

Over a million years ago, hippos are believed to have lived across Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa. They have a link to prehistoric times through Kenyapotamus, a fossil found in Kenya, dating 8-16 million years back. The relic belongs to an extinct precursor of the present day hippo. Rock art dated about 3000 BC art depicting hippo hunting has been found in the Tassili n'Ajjer mountain ranges of Algeria.

Relentlessly hunted by man, their numbers gradually diminished, and today, their last redoubt is in Africa. Hippos have moreover become extinct in the north of the continent, where considerable populations once thrived. They also once flourished along the River Nile, where they enjoyed the status of a deity– that offering protection in pregnancy and childbirth.

Only two species of hippo live on: the Nile hippo-found largely across the continent and the pygmy hippopotamus that lives mainly in West Africa. The Nile hippo or common hippopotamus numbers about 157,000, and is grouped into 5 subspecies based on structural and geographical variances.

Subspecies H.a. amphibius is largely found in Tanzania and Mozambique and is the kind that once lived along the Nile up in Egypt. H.a. capensis thrives in Zambia, all the way down south to Kruger while H.a. constrictus is found in Angola, Namibia and southern Democratic Republic of Congo. H.a. kiboko ranges between Kenya and Somalia, and the H.a. tschadensis struggles to survive in West Africa but does better in Chad.

The Nile species are easily distinguishable by their enormous size. They have a barrel-shaped torso, amazingly big head, and a wide mouth with huge canine tusks. They walk on 4 squat legs, each having 4 webbed toes, which are so designed as to serve it well both on land and in water.

Built to enjoy the aquatic lifestyle, their eyes, ears and nostrils are set atop the head. The ears are tiny rounded organs above the eye orbits, which protrude at the top of its monstrous head. The hippo is designed in a way that keeps the essential sensory organs above water level, as the rest of its body remains submerged. When entering water they pin their nostrils shut.

An average male hippo -known as a bull, stands at 5 ft at shoulder height and 11 ft from muzzle to tail. They weigh an average of 1800 kg, though a champion weighing 3200 kg has been recorded. An average female cow is slightly smaller in build and may weigh as much as 1500 kg at maturity. Like most mammals, females mature earlier than the males. Females reach puberty as early as at 3 years, and attain sexual maturity at between 5-6 years of age. The males however are considered mature at about 8 years of age. Both genders have a lifespan of 45-50 years in the wild and may live even longer in captivity.

Much is known about the common hippo, but so little is known or heard of the pygmy hippo. The pygmy species are quite shy and live in forest streams and swamps in Liberia, Sierra Leone Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire and parts of southern Nigeria. They are much smaller in size, about 5 ft long and 3 ft to the shoulder. They weigh an average 300 kg and live 30-55 years in captivity. They are however very similar to the common hippo in many other aspects, but they do not spend as much time in water. Their skin is also much darker than their Nile cousins.

Nile hippos are brownish-grey in colour with a paler underside and a pinkish blush around their eyes, ears, nostril and mouth. Their skin is often smooth and almost hairless, except for some bristles around the muzzle area, ears and tail and scattered hairs over the body. They have short, flat, paddling tails, which they use to spread their defecation to mark domain.

Their skin is an unbelievable 1.5 inches thick, and makes up at least 1/4 of the entire body weight.  The hippo’s skin secretes a viscous red-orange fluid, accounting for the myth that it sweats blood. This fluid is a marvel: playing the role of sunscreen, an antibiotic and healing agent, as well as keeping the skin moist.

Hippos neither have sebaceous glands nor do they sweat; they are therefore extremely sensitive to the sun and heat. When it gets hot- and this for the hippo is most of the day, they take a dip in water or wallow in mud pools to keep cool. They leave the water at night, and can graze as far as 8 km away, tucking away about 70 kg of grass each night. This may sound a lot-but it is not for an animal of its body size, and it is on account of the low energy demands that go with its sedentary lifestyle.

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