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Hippos have existed in the wild for 20 million years or 10 times longer than humans. Hippos are curious and intelligent, they are the second largest land mammal on the planet, after the elephant, and can weigh as much as 6000lb. Gregarious by nature, typically appearing in herds of 10 to 20 animals at a time, theay are not only conspicuous by their size but by the chorus of unique honks and snorts which maty be heard for several kilometers. Spending as much as 18 to 20 hours of their day in water that is often filled with silt and strewn with reeds or boulders, their social habits are not well understood. Eyes, ears, nostrils and occassional backside appear above the surface before submerging and reappearing elsewhere minutes later. Hiippo behaviors largely occur underwater and out of sight to observers on the shore. The minimal amount of time they spend on land is either used sleeping or out feeding in the dark of night when following the animals can become perilous.
Today their range is concentrated in Africa where they live in a wide variety of ecosystems and habitats. With an estimated population of up to 150,000 within 29 countries, as of yet, they do not appear in any immediate danger of extinction. However, they are still subject to many of the same environmental pressures as other African wiildife. Habitat loss, poaching, and environmental encroachment have caused the population of hippos across the continent to decline greatly over the last 100 years,
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