Overweight personalities can be athletic too. You don’t agree with this? Then you must know how fast can a hippo run.
Hippos or Hippopotamus surely do carry an enormous weight of 3000 kgs or even more. But you must not take them lightly when it comes to running. They are the third largest mammals on earth after elephants and rhinos. If their wide mouth has left you startled until now, today, their speed will leave you in shock.
Hippopotamus (also referred to as a water horse in Greek) can run on land as well as in water. Obviously at different speeds. But did you know that hippos can do two different kinds of running? Well, now you do. Continue reading to learn how fast can a hippo swim and how they run.
Why Hippos Run?
Before we move on to learn how fast can a hippo run, it is important to discuss what stimulates them to do that.
Hippos spend the lion’s share of their time in freshwater habitats, especially during the daytime. They are often seen in lakes, rivers, estuaries, and mangroves because their skin can’t tolerate high temperatures for longer.
These unpredictable creatures leave the water bodies at night to graze on the land. Grass is the favourite food of hippos. They roam around 3 to 5 kms every night to feed on grass. Talking of numbers, they eat around 40 kg of grass every night. Nevertheless, they also consume plants on the land but in minimal proportions and aquatic plants in even lower proportions.
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Although hippos love to eat grass, they are also scavengers. There have been many instances in which hippos can feel a threat and run. As with any other animal, three scenarios surely force a hippo to run:
- They have seen an enemy/predator
- The feeling of losing their habitat
- They have seen a target
These were a few cases when hippos can charge toward their prey. They are pretty much attached to their area of habitat, so much so that they can charge toward a lion if it drinks water from their habitat.
A hippopotamus is far more dangerous than we can expect. The fact that hippos can attack even without provocation makes them one of the most dangerous animals in Africa. Many studies have found that hippos kill more humans than lions and sharks every year.
How Fast Can A Hippo Run?
Hippos possess short legs and gigantic body weight but when they have a target in front of them, they run, they chase it. No matter what stands in between, they say ‘bring it on,’ and can’t be easily stopped. Read further to know how fast can hippos run on land and underwater.
How Fast Are Hippos On Land?
Native to sub-Saharan Africa, a hippo can run as fast as 30 km/h (or 18.64 miles per hour) with its huge and heavy body. Intrigued? Well, God has amazing surprises for us. They can run at this speed on land for half a minute or thirty seconds.
Hippos set their foot on land massively for grazing. These semi-aquatic creatures have been linked to whales and dolphins. However, they don’t have a huge appetite for aquatic plants and love to munch on grass heavily. They are also scavengers, which means carrion is also their feed.
Hippos also release their body waste on land which in their normal world marks their territory. They carry a sluggish appearance that can trick anyone to think that it must be hard for them to run. Only if you know how fast can a hippo run, you’ll realise that it can even outrun a human.
How Fast Can Hippos Run Underwater?
Hippos, the semi-aquatic creatures, are no less than an athlete in water also. For one thing, hippos don’t swim underwater, they walk and run. They can run underwater at a speed of 8 km/h (4.97 miles per hour) but will eventually come to the surface of the water every 5 minutes to breathe because they can’t hold their breath longer than that underwater.
Hippos remain underwater for several reasons.
The most prominent reason is to stay wet, cool, and hydrated. Their skin can’t take sunlight for longer which is the primary reason that they dive into lakes, rivers, and other freshwater bodies. Their delicate skin starts to sweat out a red oily substance that protects them from sun rays. So if you think hippos sweat blood, now you know what it is.
Apart from that, they also do mating underwater. Female hippos can give birth on land and in water as well. She does so in solitude.
Hippos release their body waste inside water bodies (the process is regarded as defecation). It affects the biogeochemical cycle in the water bodies since that waste distributes nitrogen and phosphorus among other organisms in the ecosystem.
A hippopotamus also takes naps inside water bodies during the daytime. You must be thinking, don’t they drown or run out of breath? Much interestingly, they can’t drown in sleep because their body systems have an in-built capability to push them onto the water’s surface to breathe while they are asleep.
There is one more interesting fact about how fast does hippo run. Adult hippos can hold their breath for 5 minutes and baby hippos can do so for 90 seconds as per National Geographic.
How Fast Can Hippos Swim: Trotting v/s Galloping
The above section talks about how fast can hippos swim. But do you know that hippos have two separate running styles? Scroll down a little to know about them.
- Trotting: Hippos either trot, which means they move their legs at a relatively faster rate than while walking but don’t lift all their legs at the same time.
- Galloping: When hippos run and cover a much wider distance in a way similar to jumping with all their legs in the air, they are said to be galloping.
Hippos run quite fast on land and in water and they are deadly too. They can cut a human into two halves in less than a fraction of a second with their sharp teeth.
Hippos are quite conscious of their habitat and are diligent enough to gauge any change. When a hippo notices any change around its habitat, you better pray that you’re not there because they will immediately charge toward you. God forbid but if destiny ever puts any of us in this dilemma, may we have a speedboat and the calmness of this man’s level.
Many people who usually go for photographing hippos or jungle safari have faced the wrath of hippos. Some of them who got saved against the odds swear on to maintain a decent distance from these semi-aquatic animals forever.
Reference Heading:
https://africafreak.com/how-fast-can-a-hippo-run
https://a-z-animals.com/blog/how-fast-can-a-hippo-run/
Some Signs That Hippos Can Exhibit Before They Run
You now know how fast a hippo can run and in what styles. But it’s quite difficult to assess when a hippo is planning to run or attack. However, certain behavior patterns have been studied by researchers that exhibit some clear indications:
- Hippos yawn to threaten their enemies.
- They use wheeze honk to call other hippos in general and their pitch can change if they sense a threat.
- While in water, hippos produce clicks (known for echolocation) to locate any objects around them. These clicks generate sound underwater that bounce back on striking an object. This way, hippos get an idea of the size of the object and how distant it is.
- They can hold their heads partially up to exhibit the sound of a cry that can be heard in water and on land as well.
- When hippos feel a threat they might produce loud exhalation sounds to alert their mates.
- They use their 1 ft. 8 in. large canine teeth to attack their prey and 1 ft. 4 in. large incisors to block an attack towards themselves.
What Do Hippos Do Underwater?
Hippos remain underwater for several reasons.
The most prominent reason is to stay wet, cool, and hydrated. Their skin can’t take sunlight for longer which is the primary reason that they dive into lakes, rivers, and other freshwater bodies. Their delicate skin starts to sweat out a red oily substance that protects them from sun rays. So if you think hippos sweat blood, now you know what it is.
Apart from that, they also do mating underwater. Female hippos can give birth on land and in water as well. She does so in solitude.
Hippos release their body waste inside water bodies (the process is regarded as defecation). It affects the biogeochemical cycle in the water bodies since that waste distributes nitrogen and phosphorus among other organisms in the ecosystem.
A hippopotamus also takes naps inside water bodies during the daytime. You must be thinking, don’t they drown or run out of breath? Much interestingly, they can’t drown in sleep because their body systems have an in-built capability to push them onto the water’s surface to breathe while they are asleep.
Adult hippos can hold their breath for 5 minutes and baby hippos can do so for 90 seconds as per National Geographic.
What Do Hippos Do On Land?
So far we’ve discussed how fast can a hippo run on land and in water and why they stay in the water. Now let’s see what activities they do on land.
Hippos set their foot on land massively for grazing. These semi-aquatic creatures have been linked to whales and dolphins. However, they don’t have a huge appetite for aquatic plants and love to munch on grass heavily. They are also scavengers, which means carrion is also their feed.
Hippos also release their body waste on land which in their normal world marks their territory.
Hippopotamus carry a sluggish appearance that can trick anyone to think that it must be hard for them to run. Only if you know how fast can a hippo run, you’ll realize that it can even outrun a human.
Can A Person Outrun Hippo?
The running speed of a human being is much less than that of a hippo. Normally, an adult human can run at a speed of 10 to 13 km/h (which ranges between 6.21 to 8.08 mph). Whereas a hippo runs at the speed of 30 km/h (18.64 mph). That’s why a person can not outrun a hippo.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1: How Fast Can A Hippo Run On Land And For How Long?
Ans: A hippo can run at a speed of 30 km/h for 30 seconds. This speed is fast enough to outrun a human being.
Q2:How Fast Does Hippo Run Underwater?
Ans: A hippo can hold its breath underwater for 5 minutes and move at a speed of 8 km/h underwater.
Q3: Can Hippos Swim?
Ans: Although hippos are designed to live in water, they can not swim but walk underwater.
Q4: Can Hippos Eat Meat?
Ans: Hippopotamus are herbivores but they often eat carrions which shows that they eat meat. In fact, hippos bear the tendency of killing human beings.
