 You were on a boat in the river. When suddenly you notice a giant hippo. His mouth was open with his giant teeth. He looked fierce.

 Hippos live in rivers and lakes.  There are less and less places for hippos to live.  A group of hippos is called a nursery.  Older hippos move closer to female hippos. It is a better chance for them to mate with a female.

 They gallop up to 20 miles per hour.  Most of the time hippos swim in water 5’ deep.  They can go under water for about 6 minutes.  Hippos run very fast.  Hippos have webbed toes to help them swim faster.  They fight with their teeth. Sometimes fights can kill hippos.

 A baby hippo is about 4’ long.  Hippos eat reeds. At 4 months old a baby calf can eat grass.  When the mom is trying to protect her calf she stands very close to them.  Baby hippos are born in the rainy season.  Hippos rest on a sand bar or on their mom’s back in the water.  Female hippos are called cows. Male hippos are called bulls. Baby hippos are called calves.  Pygmy hippos are born on land, so are rivers hippos.

There are 2 kinds of hippos, a river hippo and a pygmy hippo. A river hippo is about 4 ½’ to 5 1/3’ long. A pygmy hippo is about 2 1/2’ to 3’ long. All hippos have short stubby legs, and a barreled shape body. All hippos have a big heavy head.

 Hippos live up to 50 years old.  When hippos are 2 years old they weigh 500 lb.  The older they get the more time on land they spend.  When they are 4 or 5 months old they move away from their mom.  Scientists put hippos into groups called Actiodactyls. Actiodactyls lived 30 million years ago.