Hippos can hold their breath more then 5 minutes. These huge animals have practically no hair, therefore, in order to avoid burns and dehydration, they spend most of the time in the water.
But during the drought the water bodies become shallow, and the hippos become more and more difficult to dive into the water. To protect their delicate skin, they cover it with mud.
This untidy, but very effective way to protect against evaporation allows them to briefly leave the water even on a hot day. The dry period coincides with the nuptial period of the hippopotamus, which in turn is of practical importance: in this case, the young will be born in the rainy season, and there will be plenty of water in the reservoirs, and there will also be a lot of green grass that these animals eat.
But sometimes the young appear in the drought season. And in this case it is much harder for them to survive. The hippopotamus is immersed in water, since its body is heavier than water. He can not swim and can not even stay on the water, but simply moves along the bottom with the help of his strong legs, which work well both under water and on land.
