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San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Library
Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) & Pygmy Hippopotamus (Choerpsis liberiensis) Fact Sheet
Diet & Feeding
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Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) & Pygmy Hippopotamus (Choerpsis liberiensis) Fact Sheet: Diet & Feeding
Summary
Taxonomy & History
Distribution & Habitat
Physical Characteristics
Behavior & Ecology
Diet & Feeding
Reproduction & Development
Managed Care
Population & Conservation Status
Bibliography & Resources
Diet
Common Hippos: Mostly a grazing lifestyle, but browse may be included in diet
Pygmy Hippos eat more browse.
Pygmy Hippos consume little grass; main food items are leaves and roots of forest plants, fruits, ferns
Higher quality diet than that of Common Hippo
Both Common and Pygmy Hippos are absolutely dependent on vegetation near permanent rivers and streams
Common Hippo carnivory (both scavenging and predation) observed in a drought year in southern Africa. (Dudley 1996)
Over the last 10 million years hippo diets have been similar to that of modern hippos (grazing with some browse)
Oxygen and carbon isotopes in fossil enamel and bone yield data indicating diet and habitat
Feeding
Always graze and forage on land; consume few, if any, aquatic plants
Spend day in water, night on land grazing 5-6 hours.
Usually remain close (1-3 km or .6-1.9 mi) to home watercourse during nighttime feeding
"Hippo lawns" created where grasses kept short by continued grazing
Grass is grasped with horny lips (up to 20 inches wide in male) and torn off as hippo moves its head from side to side.
Weakly rooted grasses are eliminated from the grazing areas with this action
Coarse, tussock-forming grass species not eaten
Short creeping grass species preferred that can be grasped with lips
Plant species in diet include:
Cynodon, Panicum, Heteropogon, Sporobolus, Themeda, Cynodon, Digitaria,
Eriochloa, Tragus, Brachiaria, Urochloa, Chloris, Setaria, Cyperus.
Unlike many artiodactyls, hippos don't ruminate
Food is coarsely ground by back molars; front teeth not used in feeding
Have a multi- chambered stomach where carbohydrates are fermented; two day's worth of grasses can be held at one time
Intestines extremely long (much longer than other grass eaters)
Slow rate of digestion derives maximum benefit from a nutrient poor diet of grasses and dry forage
Low metabolic rate allows survival for many weeks without food
Eat approximately 1-1.5 % of body weight per day
At least 2.5% of body weight for many other ungulates such as cattle, white rhinos
Adult hippo consumes 25-40 kg (55-88 lbs) vegetation/day
Page Citations
Eltringham (1999)
Jablonski (2004)
Kingdon (1979)
Laws (1968)
Novak (1991)
O'Connor & Campbell (1986)
SDZWA Library Links
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Fact sheet index, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Library
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