#KeWildlife – Story 8

In ancient Greek, the word hippopotamus means river horse, which is undoubtedly an unlikely name for this enormous animal. While we’re on the subject of size, a hippo weighs 4,500 kilograms making it the third largest mammal on earth after whales and elephants respectively.

Hippos cannot swim which is surprising because they spend most of their time submerged in water with only their eyes above the surface. But perhaps you’d like to know why.

Paukwa?

There was a time when only animals roamed the earth. Africa was their main home and they lived amongst each other in peace. There were the animals of the land that ate the dead and others that are the leaves and branches of trees, then there were the animals of the water that ate little fish and reeds.

The land animals were known for their tough skin that would help them whenever the sun was at its peak. Although the heat would get uncomfortable, the sun rays never affected their skin. All but the hippopotamus.

The hippo’s skin lacked the strength to withstand the sun’s rays and as a result, every sunny day the hippo would be the most uncomfortable. For this reason, its skin became thinner with each passing day.

One day the hippo decided he wanted to cool his burning skin in the water and so he staggered to the nearest watering hole and asked the animals of the water if he could stay in the water with them.

“No!” the other animals said in unison.

“If we let you stay in the water with us, you will eat all our food and we won’t have enough,” said one of the water animals.

“I promise if you let me stay in the water to cool my skin, I will never touch your food. I will still eat my leaves from the land.”

The water animals were hesitant but they decided that they would only allow hippo to stay in water when he needed to cool from the sunshine. Hippo agreed to their terms and said that he would always open his big wide mouth so that they could see that he had truly not eaten the water animals’ food.

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It’s interesting when you think about it. Today if you see a hippo’s wide mouth, it isn’t just showing the other animals that it has kept its word, rather it is warning its observer to stay away from it. With just one snap, a hippo’s canines can kill a human being. This makes it one of Africa’s most dangerous animals.

The hippo is often seen on land at night when it goes out in search of food. As for their inability to swim, these mammals stay by the edge of water bodies, where they can stand but stay in water to prevent their skin from the sun’s rays. They have the ability to close their noses and ears to prevent taking in the water, and can hold their breath for up to seven minutes.

The Tsavo East National Park, Meru National Park and Sibiloi National Park host this magnificent species and are accessible all year.