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  • Nile Hippopotamus

Nile Hippopotamus

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Tram Trail
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Quick facts

Lifespan

Lifespan

Up to 40 years

in the wild, 62 years under human care

fruits

Diet

Grass

Habitat

Habitat

Estuaries

and lower courses of rivers

range

Range

Eastern central

and southern sub-Saharan Africa

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The Nile hippos

Water dwellers by day

Water dwellers by day

You will be able to spot these heavyweights of Equatorial Africa just before the tram crosses into the Asian Riverine Forest. They’re way bigger than our family of pygmy hippos at Singapore Zoo. To keep their massive bodies cool in the blistering African heat, hippos can spend up to 16 hours a day submerged in water.

They consume few, if any, aquatic plants, and are absolutely dependent on vegetation surrounding permanent water bodies. At sundown, they leave the water, travelling overland along single-file pathways to forage for food.

Land feeders by night

Land feeders by night

Nighttime feeding takes place over 5-6 hours, usually within a close range of 1-3 km to their home watercourse. Coarse, tufty grass is passed over for short, creeping grass species that can be grasped with their lips and torn off a side-to-side head movement.

In this way, “hippo lawns” are created by continued grazing. If threatened on land, hippos will make a dash back to the water. At a speed of 30km/hr, they can match a human's speed for short distances!

Toothy yawn

Toothy yawn

The hippo’s canines and incisors grow continuously. The long lower canines are kept sharp through constant vertical wear against the shorter upper canines and used for fighting. These tusk-like teeth can grow to 50 cm in males - twice the length of the females’.

Their jaws are hinged far to the back, allowing for an enormous gape of 150°, compared to only 45° in humans. The yawn is a threat display to establish dominance. It is also used by males to attract females.

Together, we protect wildlife

Hippos on the edge

Hippos on the edge

Potentially vulnerable due to its specialised ecology, the loss of grazing habitat and desertification threaten the Nile hippo’s continued survival. It is also hunted for meat and killed for raiding crops and attacking fishermen.

Conservation organisation African Wildlife Foundation engages communities in mitigating human-hippo conflict; constructing fences, and ditches to protect farmland from grazing hippos.

Ever since elephant ivory was banned in 1990, the trade-in hippo teeth have been on the rise. Carved into artwork, hippo ivory looks exquisite. But the act of buying fuels only the demand for them. Refuse wildlife products. 

The IUCN Status

VU

Vulnerable

At high risk of extinction in the wild

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is widely recognized as the most comprehensive, objective global approach for evaluating the conservation status of plant and animal species.

DD

Data Deficient

Unknown risk of extinction

LC

Least Concern

At relatively low risk of extinction

NT

Near Threatened

Likely to become vulnerable in the near future

VU

Vulnerable

At high risk of extinction in the wild

EN

Endangered

At very high risk of extinction in the wild

CR

Critically Endangered

At extremely high risk of extinction in the wild

EW

Extinct in the Wild

Survives only in captivity

EX

Extinct

No surviving individuals in the wild or in captivity

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Every visit to our parks comes with

Every visit to our parks comes with
Find out how, together, we're creating a better future for wildlife and the planet.

Opening hours

6.30pm to 12am (Last entry at 11.15pm)

We're open every day of the year.

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80 Mandai Lake Road
Singapore 729826

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