What food does hippopotamus eat? As far as freshwater species are concerned, hippopotamus is the largest omnivorous mammal in the world after elephants. Huge, individual 3.3 meters long, shoulder height 1.5 meters. The average weight is about 1.35 tons, and the maximum weight in the field is 2.66 tons. Short limbs, four toes, big head, small eyes and ears, big mouth and small tail, huge lower canine teeth, 50 to 60 cm long, thick skin, about 40 to 50 mm, except for sparse hair on the nose, mouth, tail and ears, the whole body skin is bare and purple-brown. The stomach has three chambers and usually lives in tropical Africa where aquatic plants are abundant. They usually consist of ten or more hippos, sometimes in groups of hundreds.
Hippopotamus is an omnivorous amphibious mammal, which mainly feeds on aquatic plants, and occasionally hippopotamus also eats crops in the field. Hippos can eat more than 80 kilograms of food a day, but when food is in short supply, hippos will not only kill animals, but also eat the animals they kill, and even eat the bodies of similar animals. Even hippos eating crocodiles is not absolute. Hippos in zoos are usually fed tons of materials, such as grains, cereals, hay and green pastures. Hippos are good at swimming and diving, but they are afraid of cold and like warm climate. When they are out of water for a long time, their skin will dry, and they will eat, mate, give birth and breastfeed in water all their lives. During the day, they usually stay in the water or rest in the grass and reeds by the river. They come out to eat grass at night and can migrate hundreds of meters to several kilometers in search of food.
Hippo's skin has special glands that secrete a red liquid, which makes people feel that hippo's sweat is like "sweat". These secretions will protect hippo's skin from dryness. Hippos don't like staying in one place for a long time. Every few days, they will move to a new place. Of course, most of the time, they are still in the water.
Hippos like to live in groups, with 20 to 30 females in each group, sometimes as many as 100 or more, especially in places with many aquatic plants. It has a flexible set of special muscle tissues, just like using a valve. It can close the ears and nostrils when diving. Each dive can last 5 to 10 minutes to avoid water ingress. They can usually stay in the water for three to five minutes at a time, up to 30 minutes. But unlike aquatic mammals, which are physiologically adapted to water, they can also live on land for a long time, running at a speed of 20 kilometers per hour, but they can only be regarded as semi-aquatic. Usually, hippos immerse their bodies in water, leaving only their ears, eyes and nostrils on the water. While ensuring that they can breathe normally, they can also find danger in time without being discovered by the enemy. Besides being safe and cool, water can also help support its huge and heavy body and let it walk freely in the water.