Mary Gonvick, age 8, of Cleveland, Ohio, for her question:
HOW MUCH DOES A HIPPOPOTAMUS WEIGH?
Third place honors for size go to the hippopotamus. Only two other animals that live on the land are larger: the elephant and the rhinoceros.
A large, wild river hippopotamus may weigh as much as 5,800 pounds. On the average, however, the large animal will weigh between 2,500 and 3,000 pounds.
Two Greek words were used to form the word hippopotamus. The words mean river horse. But the animals, found in central, southern and western African, are more closely related to the hog than to the horse.
There are two kinds of hippopotamuses: the river hippopotamus or common hippo and the pygmy hippopotamus. The pygmy is smaller and rarer than his river living relative.
The river hippopotamus has a large, barrel shaped body. Its legs are short and its head is huge. It stands about five feet tall and is between 12 and 15 feet long, not including his tail. The tail usually measures about 22 inches long.
Each hippo has four webbed toes on each foot.
A river hippopotamus' eyes stick out from his head. The position of the ears, eyes and nostrils enables the large animal to hear, see and breathe with most of its head underwater.
The hippo can close its nostrils and ears when it swims or dives. It's sense of smell is excellent but his vision is only fair.
Thick, brownish gray skin covers the river hippopotamuses' bodies. They have no hair except for a few bristles on the head and tail. Special glands in the skin give off a clear, pink or red oily fluid. The fluid keeps the skin from getting too dry.
The reddish color of the fluid has led many people to report that the hippopotamuses sweat blood. This is definitely not true.
River hippos live in herds of from five to 30 animals. On land, they can run about 20 miles per hour.
A pygmy hippopotamus weighs from 400 to 600 pounds and stands about two and a half feet tall. His body ranges from five to six feet in length and his tail measures about seven inches long.
Pygmy hippos live in thick forests near streams but they spend less time in the water than do river hippopotamuses. They live alone or in pairs, rather than in herds.
A hippo has long, curved front teeth. Its side teeth are even longer and form tusks. All the teeth grow throughout the animal's life, but they seldom become too long because the teeth of the upper and lower jaws grind together and wear each other away. The tusks are made of ivory.
A female hippopotamus has her first baby when she is about five or six years old. The animals live about 30 years in their natural surrounding and about 50 years in zoos.
Almost no other kind of animal attacks adult hippopotamuses. But man, unfortunately, has been greatly reducing both the number of hippos and the size of the areas in which they live.