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 Can
you name some of the strongest animals in
Africa? I can think of the lion or the rhino. They are both great
runners and have so much
power! Well, there is one more animal that has great strength. It’s the hippo!
Hippos are very special because they are semi-aquatic.
This means they live in the water
and on the ground. Hippos love to stay cool by swimming in
the water. Sometimes they even go into the mud. They love the water
so much that they mate and give birth in the water!
 As
you can see in the pictures, hippos have a big body. They love to
eat. These vegetarian mammals enjoy
coming to land to eat the grass. They spend four to five hours
eating. They usually eat about 68 kilograms
of grass every day! Hippos have been on Earth for nearly 16 million
years. The body is hairless. And they have a
huge mouth with really large
teeth. Hippos are the third heaviest mammals
living on Earth. The heaviest is the elephant, followed by the rhino.
Don’t let the cute pig-like face fool you. Hippos may look
peaceful and calm, but when they are upset, they can be very scary. Often times, hippos are hunted
for their teeth. Now in Africa, the number of hippos has dropped to a very low point.
Animal lovers and conservationists are trying
hard to save the hippos before they
go extinct. |
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