What do hippos eat?

Hippopotamus is the largest living omnivorous mammal among freshwater species. the average individual length is 3.3 meters, the shoulder height is 1.5 meters, the average weight is about 1.35 tons, the average weight is between 0.9 and 1.8 tons, and the largest wild individual weighs 2.66 tons. It lives in tropical Africa where aquatic plants are abundant. Let's take a look at what hippopotamus eats.

What kind of food does hippopotamus eat?

The hippopotamus is a herbivore, but its sparse fangs are ten centimeters long. the female hippopotamus is very aggressive in the field to protect the little hippopotamus, moving in pairs or in small groups, and the elderly males often move alone. Almost all day, they sleep or rest in or near the river, come out to eat at night, sometimes swim more than 30 kilometers along the river to find food, mainly feed on aquatic plants, occasionally feed on land crops, mainly grass, and sometimes go to the fields to eat crops. When there is a shortage of food, they will also take the initiative to prey on other herbivores, with a daily intake of more than 80 kilograms.

Population status of hippopotamus

The main common threats to hippopotamus are illegal and unlimited hunting for meat and teeth and habitat loss. Illegal hunting is considered to be the most serious war in the field of habitat. During more than eight years of civil strife and fighting in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the local hippopotamus population has declined by more than 95%, and widespread poaching of meat has also been reported from Burundi and C ô te d'Ivoire. For countries with a high proportion of common hippopotamus population reserves, the rate of decline is much lower, so habitat conservation should be rewarded and penalties for illegal poaching should be put in place. Hippopotamus has been listed in the World Conservation Union (IUCN) ver3.1:2012 Mammal Red list-vulnerable (VU).

Breeding habits of hippopotamus

The female maturation of the hippopotamus is between 7 and 9 years old, and the male is between 9 and 11 years old, with a life span of about 30 to 40 years. Mating in the water, there is no fixed breeding season, the pregnancy period of the female is 210 to 255 days, giving birth in the water, one litter per fetus. The newborn cub weighs 40kg to 50kg and can walk and swim five minutes after birth. The mother hippopotamus with cubs becomes very ferocious. After the cubs are born, the females take good care of them, breast-feed them in the water, let them move only within sight, and patiently teach them to swim and roll to protect them from harm. After 4 or 6 months, the cubs will be able to eat grass, the lactation period is about one year, and the offspring support period usually borne by the female alone can be extended to 18 months.

Subspecies classification of hippopotamus

1. Hippopotamus named subspecies: hippopotamus named subspecies is one of the subspecies of hippopotamus, distributed from Sudan, East and West Africa in the Nile Valley to Gambia and Senegal.

2. Hippopotamus East African subspecies: hippopotamus East African subspecies is one of the hippopotamus subspecies, distributed in Kenya, Lake Naivasha and Somalia.

3. Hippopotamus West Africa subspecies: hippopotamus West Africa is one of the subspecies of hippopotamus, distributed in Chad, Niger and Nigeria.

4. Hippopotamus South African subspecies: hippopotamus South Africa is one of the subspecies of hippopotamus, distributed in Zambia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini.