The Hippopotamus

By Author: peter philp
Total Articles: 43
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You will now have a look at the other Order, Artiodactyls, and learn a few field characteristics that will enrich your Safari once you are ready .This is where we meet the swines and the hippopotamus.

In Kenya, the warthog is one of the very common animals of this order. Others include the bush pig, giant forest hogs found in the woodlands of Kenya and other African countries.

On many outings on your holiday safari, it is the warthog that you will meet mostly in the open savannahs. It is one of the amazing creatures especially when you look at their faces. The warts give them an exaggerated appearance of ‘tough’ animals. These warts are very prominent on the males. It is the only pig adapted for savannah habitats and as such it is the commonly spotted hog. You will see them on hot days wallowing in the shallow waters giving them that muddy look.

When feeding, the warthog rests and walks on its calloused carpal joints (wrists or knees). This is a behavior seen only with the warthog that makes the skin tough around the knees. This is the reason why in some old animals this skin has flaking looks due to ...
... use with time. Where there are seasonal climatic changes, they are seasonal breeders rutting at the end of the rains.

Usually they give birth to several piglets in a burrow under the ground. Unfortunately (or fortunately) they are preyed upon by a couple of predators including big birds of prey.(one time a martial eagle came down like lightning and grabbed a piglet just next to our van as we watched them and the helpless mother had nothing she could do).

When threatened by the predators, they seek their underground refuge and usually put up a defense especially for the piglets. On a couple of times you will see that when surprised or scared they run for their burrows backwards first. This is a defensive move whereby they usually attack with their teeth with the rest of the body protected in the hole.

The hippopotamus is one of the most interesting creatures. An enigma in itself. One of the most noticeable characteristic is the physical resemblance to the pigs.

There are two species of hippos in the world, but while on your safari in Kenya you will see one of them, the common hippopotamus. The dwarf hippopotamus is found in the lowland forests of West Africa from Guinea to Ivory Coast.

Hippos feed at night on land and during the day they rest in the water. This is the time to digest what they have been eating during the night. Their ‘familiar’ honking enriches the day with the sounds of the African wilds. All this in their age-old natural habitats that man has not yet managed to destroy, but unfortunately on the way.

The hippo’s jaws are often displayed as a ready protection or as a threat to intruders. You must look out for the famous “hippo yawn” during your trip and this calls for some patience when you visit the hippo pools. Usually during the night when feeding, lions and hyenas try their luck on the young calves and this is usually fierce asking for a lot of trouble from the mother.

In some cases they succeed but after some fights that can vary from mild to fierce. At times, the display of the huge canines is enough to ward of intruders especially during the day when they rest in shallow waters. The fact that they are most of the times in a group also helps a lot to protect their young ones.

On your African Safari with the help of the guide you will be able to interpret more of the behaviors around the hippos and the warthogs as they appear. It is worth it to learn about them, their way of life and that way we will be able to maintain their habitat for generations to come.

BIO

Natural Track Safaris is a Kenya based nature Safari Company catering for family outdoor adventures, camping and overland safaris. For more safari information visit http://www.natural-track.com/safaris and http://www.natural-track.com/tanzania_safaris.html