daintellekt's video: Hippopotamus India Up Close 2000 Kg Mighty Beast

Hippopotamus, ZooKolkata, India: The video shows Hippopotamus - mighty 2000 kg, third largest land mammal, and extremely aggressive animal -from a very close range. Herbivorous, hence non stop grazing to satiate the large intestine. Music Creative Commons License The Savoy Drift by Danosongs.com The hippopotamusor hippo, is a large, mostly herbivorous mammal in sub-Saharan Africa, and one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae (the other is the pygmy hippopotamus). The name comes from the ancient Greek for "river horse" (ἱπποπόταμος). After the elephant and rhinoceros, the hippopotamus is the third-largest type of land mammal.Despite their physical resemblance to pigs and other terrestrial even-toed ungulates, their closest living relatives are cetaceans (whales, porpoises, etc.) from which they diverged about 55 million years ago. Hippopotamuses are gregarious, living in groups of up to 30 animals. A group is called a pod, herd, dale, or bloat. Hippos are recognizable by their barrel-shaped torsos, enormous mouths and teeth, nearly hairless bodies, stubby legs and great size, adults average 1,500 kg (3,300 lb) and 1,300 kg (2,900 lb) for males and females respectively. Despite its stocky shape and short legs it can easily outrun a human, being capable of reaching 30 km/h (19 mph) over short distances. The hippopotamus is one of the most aggressive and unpredictable creatures in the world and, as such, ranks among the most dangerous animals in Africa. The hippopotamus is semiaquatic, inhabiting rivers, lakes and mangrove swamps, where territorial bulls preside over a stretch of river and groups of five to 30 females and young. During the day, they remain cool by staying in the water or mud; reproduction and childbirth both occur in water. They emerge at dusk to graze on grasses. In May 2006, the hippopotamus was identified as a vulnerable species on the IUCN Red List drawn up by the World Conservation Union (IUCN), with an estimated population of between 125,000 and 150,000 hippos, a decline of between 7% and 20% since the IUCN's 1996 study. Zambia (40,000) and Tanzania (20,000–30,000) possess the largest populations. The hippo population declined most dramatically in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The population in Virunga National Park had dropped to 800 or 900 from around 29,000 in the mid-1970s.