A small hippo is born not at all small – weighing about 50 kg, length – 120 cm. Quickly enough the baby learns and already the next day can walk with his mother. However, for a long time she will have to protect the cub, covering her body even from a male, who can easily trample the baby. In addition, small hippos often become victims of lions, hyenas, leopards and hyena dogs.
Also, lions pose a threat to adult hippos, but crocodiles, contrary to everyone’s conviction, are not dangerous for hippos.
Usually during rest the whole body of the hippopotamus is submerged in water. Boats sometimes pass in the immediate vicinity of sleeping animals, and it happens that passengers notice hippos only when the bottoms touch their backs or disturbed beasts express their discontent.
The hippopotamuses have a wide mouth, and the jaws, especially the lower ones, are armed with huge, rarely spaced yellow, like smokers, teeth. The largest are fangs. They grow all their lives and so the old animals reach an impressive size.
The Belgian Museum of Natural History holds the canine of a hippopotamus 64.5 centimeters long. None of the herbivores have such huge teeth!
