Mission Possible - hippos who will stop the internet dictatorship of cats

There is a suspicion that there are more photos of cats on the Internet than there are cats themselves all over the world. Agree, there is some satiety. It's time to promote a new trend. Of course, these cuties are not always at hand, and they don’t really like to be photographed, but that makes each frame more valuable. To ensure that the promotion of hippos to the masses is thorough, we have diluted our gallery with interesting facts about these graceful mammals.

Hippos appeared about 55 million years ago; their homeland is considered to be Equatorial Africa. The word “hippopotamus” itself is translated from ancient Greek as “sea horse”. Anticipating your question, how does a hippopotamus differ from a hippopotamus, we answer: nothing. Behemoth is a hippopotamus in Hebrew.

In terms of body volume, the hippopotamus is second only to two mammals: the elephant and the white rhinoceros. And who his closest relatives are, you will never guess. Dolphins and whales.

Hippos, of course, are herbivores, but they can get angry. And if you happen to run away from an angry hippopotamus, it’s far from a fact that he won’t catch up with you. At short distances, the hippopotamus accelerates to 30 kilometers per hour.

The bite force of a hippopotamus exceeds 300 kilograms. There have been cases when this cute creature snacked on a crocodile.

Although a hippopotamus is only half the size of an elephant, it only needs 1/6 of what an elephant eats to get enough food. This is approximately 50 kilograms per night. At the same time, hippos can walk up to ten kilometers in search of suitable food.

Possessing huge lungs, the hippopotamus can hold its breath for up to five minutes. And its mouth opens to 120 centimeters. Proportionally, the head of a hippopotamus is one of the largest heads in the world.

The very tough skin of hippopotamuses was and is used in many African countries to make various crafts. For example, for wheels on which diamonds are processed.

In hot weather or during a long vacation on the beach, the skin of the hippopotamus turns pink. This is not a tan, but a special substance that is released to protect against burning.

Life expectancy directly depends on the wear of teeth. If the teeth are completely worn out, the animal will not be able to chew food and will die of starvation. On average, hippos live 45 years.