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Hippopotamus
Permanent rivers, lakes, pools and floodplains
Habitat
August to October
Best Viewing Season
Vulnerable
Conservation Status
Introduction
Massive hippos pack into Tanzania's rivers and lakes, emerging after dark to graze on vast quantities of grass. At 3,000 kilograms or more, they are the continent's most dangerous animal and command respect even from lions and crocodiles. Watch them surface at dawn and dusk in Lake Manyara, the Serengeti's water holes and Tarangire's river system.
Behaviour & Facts
The smell hits you first. Old water, mud, and the deep sour reek of an animal that spends sixteen hours a day in its own waterhole. Then you see them: twenty odd grey backs jammed shoulder to shoulder in the pool, eyes flicking, ears flicking, and the occasional slow yawn that opens a mouth wide enough to take a small antelope whole. Hippos are the most dangerous large animal in Africa, responsible for an estimated 500 human deaths a year, more than lions, leopards, buffalo, elephants and crocodiles combined. The danger comes from a few specific traits. They are enormously territorial in water. They are surprisingly fast on land, up to 30 km/h over short distances. They have the largest mouth gape of any land mammal, and they will charge anything that gets between them and the safety of the water. For all that, hippos spend most of their lives in slow communal calm. A pod of fifteen to thirty animals shares a single stretch of river, the bull at the centre and the females and calves arranged around him. They sleep submerged, surface to breathe every few minutes as a reflex so deep they do it without waking, and emerge at dusk to graze on land. Each adult eats around 40 kilograms of grass a night.
Jack Fleckney - Legend Head Guide
Despite their barrel shape, hippos are not great swimmers. They walk along the bottom of rivers and pools rather than swim, pushing off and gliding from one foothold to the next. Calves are born underwater and have to swim to the surface for their first breath, which they do almost immediately. A mother and calf will rest in a quiet shallow part of the pool for the first weeks, often with the calf riding on her back to keep its head above water. Their closest living relatives are not pigs but whales. Hippos and cetaceans share a common ancestor from around 55 million years ago, and you can see the family resemblance in the way a hippo moves through water, in its hairless skin, and in its underwater vocal communication. Pods communicate through low frequency clicks and grunts that travel through water to neighbouring pods kilometres away. Tanzania's hippo populations are among the strongest in Africa, with major concentrations across the northern circuit. The Retina Hippo Pool on the Seronera River in the central Serengeti is one of the best year round sites, while the alkaline shallows of Lake Manyara and the permanent pools of the Ngorongoro Crater floor give reliable viewing within short drives of the main lodges.
Where to see
Hippopotamus
in Tanzania
Where to see hippos in Tanzania?
The Retina Hippo Pool on the Seronera River in the central Serengeti is the most reliable year round viewing site in the northern circuit. Lake Manyara and the Ngorongoro Crater pools also hold strong pods. Legend Expeditions includes all three on northern circuit itineraries.
Are hippos the most dangerous animal?
Hippos kill more people in Africa each year than any other large mammal, estimated at around 500 deaths annually. The danger comes mostly from accidental encounters along rivers and hippo paths at night, not from inside a safari vehicle. On a guided Legend Expeditions safari you are completely safe.
Why do hippos stay in water?
Hippo skin loses moisture very fast in dry air, and they can become severely dehydrated within hours of leaving the water. They submerge to keep their skin hydrated and their massive bodies cool through the heat of the day, then emerge after dark to feed on grass when temperatures drop.
Can you see hippos out of water?
Yes, but mostly at dawn, dusk and after dark. Hippos leave their pools each evening to graze on land for several hours, walking long distances along established paths. Early morning game drives that pass known hippo paths sometimes catch them returning to the water at first light.
How big are hippos really?
Adult male hippos in Tanzania weigh between 1,500 and 3,000 kilograms, making them the third largest land mammal on Earth after elephants and white rhinos. Their canines can reach 50 centimetres in length. They are far larger than most safari travellers expect when they see one out of the water for the first time.
Are hippos related to pigs?
Despite the superficial resemblance, hippos are not closely related to pigs at all. Their closest living relatives are whales and dolphins. The two lineages split from a common semi aquatic ancestor around 55 million years ago, which is why hippos share so many physical traits with cetaceans.
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