A School of Hippos in Uganda
A School of hippos in Uganda is a fascinating creature in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Murchison Falls National Park and Lake Mburo National Park. The hippos have unique traits and behaviors.
They spend most of their time in water to protect their skin from the sun and keep cool. Hippos do not swim but instead they bounce off the riverbed to move through the water. They can hold their breath for 5 minutes and even sleep underwater, automatically surfacing the air without waking up.
Their eyes, ears and nostril sit high on their heads allowing them to stay mostly submerged while remaining aware of their surroundings.
Hippos are the heaviest land mammals after the elephant and the White Rhino. They are herbivores and feed by plucking the grass with its wide muscular lips. Their powerful jaws are capable of opening up to 150 degrees wide showing their enormous incisors.
The name hippopotamus comes from the Greek word meaning “river horse.” This Greek word makes sense because of their semi-aquatic lifestyle. They spend most of their time in Rivers, Lakes and swamps across sub-Saharan Africa.
Despite their bulky appearance, hippos are surprisingly very fast on land and one of the most dangerous animals in the World due to their aggressive and unpredictable nature.
Hippos have powerful jaws with large canine tusks and they are territorial in water. Interestingly the hippos do not sweat but rather their skin secretes an oily reddish substance that acts as a natural sunscreen.
Where can one find a school of hippos in Uganda?
Hippos are the second largest land mammal in the World. There are two species of hippos. That is the pygmy hippos and the common/large hippo.
Their feet have four-webbed toes that splay out to distribute weight evenly and therefore it supports them on land.
Hippos are semi aquatic, they mate and give birth in water. They have an average lifespan of 40-50 years and their physical growth stops at about 25 years.
You can easily spot hippopotamus in places like Queen Elizabeth National Park, Murchison Falls National Park, Semuliki National Park and Lake Mburo National Park.
Besides spotting the hippos, you can as well spot other numerous animals, birds and different plant species while at the park.
What a school of hippos in Uganda eats and how they behave in groups?
A school of hippos in Uganda is one of the amazing creatures to spot while at the park. Hippos are herbivores, primarily feeding on 150 pounds/ 75 kg of grass.
To a smaller extent, hippos eat fruits, aquatic plants and small animals. Despite their massive size, they consume only about 1-1.5% of their body weight in food each night.
They graze on land, usually travelling short distances from water sources to find food. Hippos are highly social and live in groups called pods, herds or school, which can range from 10-30 individuals.
Hippo wallowing in Queen Elizabeth National Park
Hippos do like wallowing during the hot day so as to cool down their body temperature.
The dominant male, who maintain control over the territory and females, typically leads the groups. While the hippos appear peaceful, they are territorial in water and can be aggressive, especially when defending their space. They can run faster than human can on land to about 30-40 km/hour.
Hippos somehow resemble the pigs and other terrestrial even- toed ungulates. However, the closest animal to the hippos are the cetaceans to talk of the dolphins, whales among others.
Characteristics of hippos
The hippopotamus are herbivores and one of the biggest land mammals. The male weigh about 1,480 kgs and to some extent, very fat males weigh up to 2,660 kgs.
The adult females weigh 1,365kgs. The male hippos can continue growing throughout their lives while the females reach the maximum growth by 25 years.
Their tail’s length ranges from 35-56cm and 1.30-1.65m tall at the shoulder. Hippos have short tails and legs plus a barrel-shaped body. The short legs help to reduce on the weight burden and their toes are webbed.
Hippos have the eyes and the nostril high on the roof of their skulls and this allows those organs to remain above the surface while other body is submerged in water.
The eyes and the nostril can close while under water. The hippo have poor eyesight during day though with a very high body sense.
