Hippo yawn

I visited the Ratlhogo waterhole in the Pilanesberg Nature Reserve near Rustenburg a few times. This Hippo was around most of the time, floating in the water with just its eyes and nostrils showing or basking in the sun. One morning it was in a playful mood diving and surfacing and snapping at the water. This picture shows it yawning. It was around roughly every second day. Hippos travel during the night. I presume it travels to another waterhole a few kilometers away to make the return journey the next night. The photo shows a number of broken and missing teeth. I would stress if my teeth were broken and missing but it does not seem to bother this Hippo.

A male Hippopotamus (Hippo) can reach a height of up to 1,7 meter at the shoulder and can reach a weight of up to 2 tonnes. Hippos graze on short grass close to water but can travel distances of up to 30 kilometers to reach grazing. It consumes up to 13 kilograms of grass per day. This seems like a lot but is actually half of what is expected considering the body size. A hippo can reach an age of up to 35 years. Lions and crocodiles will attack baby hippos but seldom fully grown individuals.

The temperature was 3˚ C when I took this photo. It can stay submerged for up too 6 minutes, closing its nostrils and ears to stop water getting in. Now and again they travel to different parts of their environment. One is known to have walked 1 800 kilometers, from Lake St Lusia to the Keiskama River.

Hippos are one of Africa’s big five and are quite dangerous. They will trample most anything coming between itself and the water or itself and its calf. There is still one mystery about these animals. There are three documented cases where they have rescued drowning animals from other species. On one such an occasion in the Kruger National Park a hippo forcefully freed a young Impala from a crocodile and carried it to the side. It stood next to the Impala to fend off any possible further attacks, but lost interest when the impala died. This happened before the days of digital photography but I have seen sets of slides displayed at shops in the Kruger National Park. The set must have been scanned to electronic format by now.

Source: Smither’s Mammals of Southern Africa and own knowledge.

I will publish some more photos on my website within the next few days - http://www.coismeyer.com/