I’m a Hippopotamus
I’m an animal that lives on land and in the water.



I’m quite the big one yet I’m smaller than the elephant and the rhinoceros.



Hippopotamuses range in length from 10 to 18 feet and grow to a height of 5 feet.



Adult males weigh between 3,500 lbs and 9,000 lbs while adult females weigh on average 3,000 lbs.



Their babies weigh between 50 and 100 lbs at birth.



Pygmy hippopotamus weigh between 400 to 600 lbs as they are much smaller than the larger river hippopotamus.



Hippopotamuses when hungry graze in the grasslands near rivers to eat grass and while in water they eat water lilies, water lettuce and aquatic plants.



You would never guess it but my distant relatives are the whale, porpoise and dolphin.



I resemble them in some ways but I am a species all my own.



The translation of hippopotamus is literally water horse.



Hippopotamuses have two species, the pygmy hippo and the common river hippo and their native land is Africa.



The hippopotamus has the best of both worlds as they live in the rivers and on land but must spend most of their time in the water so they don’t become dehydrated.



Their bodies need to be in water most of the day so they don’t get too dry in the sun.



Hippopotamuses are social animals and family oriented forming groups of between 10 and 30 members with adult males, adult females and their calves.



The life expectancy of hippopotamuses in the wild is 40 years and in captivity it ticks up to 50 years.



The hippopotamus can be traced back over 21 million years.



It’s hard to imagine life back to prehistoric times but yet these animals roamed the earth with species that have gone extinct and now are no more though the hippopotamus of today represent two distinct species.



Hippopotamus are endangered species due to climate change, poaching, habitat loss and encroachment.



It’s very important that they are protected and given the opportunity to live out their lives in the wild.



They are amazing animals and a necessary part of the aquatic ecosystem where they deposit nutrients from the land into the rivers and streams of Africa.



Scientists also research and use tracking devices to study hippopotamus and their movements from waterways to land in their natural habitat.



Hippopotamus are popular at the zoos around the world and attract visitors from all over the world to see how they interact with each other and live in their surroundings that provide them all the functionality that their habitats provide and they also receive loving care from the staff and veterinary team.



When you come to visit us at the zoo that’s a safe place because we are wild animals.



There’s a popular song that was sung by a young girl, Gayla Peevey when she was 10 in 1953 and it’s a Christmas song that centers around her wish for a hippopotamus for Christmas.



She actually was gifted a baby hippopotamus, Matilda in 1953 which she donated to the Oklahoma City Zoo and triumphantly Matilda lived at the zoo for 45 years living to age 47 before she passed in 1998.



Gayla Peevey is still alive and is now 81.



That’s a truly wonderful story involving a young girl and a baby hippopotamus that had a full life at the zoo and a song that has touched the world.



I will be on my best behavior and expect visitors to be also. You can appreciate my ways from a distance and see me in the water and on land.



I’m a hippopotamus.