Wet and Wild: Hippos and Crocs in the Serengeti

A cool watering hole in the Serengeti might look like a nice place for a quick swim during a hot safari, but don't think about jumping in! That pool most likely harbors two of the most dangerous animals on the plains - the hippopotamus and the crocodile.

Pool Party

Both the crocodile and the hippo spend much of their daylight hours in or near the water, and often they share the same small pools. Kirawira pool near the Grumeti River of the Serengeti is home to crocodiles up to 18 feet (5.5 m) long. Crocodiles will eat just about any animal they can find in the water or along the banks, including fish, frogs, turtles, birds, and wildebeest. They can hide submerged in the water for more than an hour, but when they decide to give chase, they can swim up to 20 miles per hour (32 kph) or run as fast as 11 miles an hour (18 kph). Crocodiles are also capable of doing a "tail walk" like dolphins do, in which their head and body are held vertically out of the water.

Crocodiles may work cooperatively to catch fish for their next meal.

The word "hippopotamus" comes from a Greek word meaning "water or river horse." Though hippos are not in fact related to the horse (the pig is actually the hippo's closest relative), they do live up to their name by spending hours in the water. With eyes, ears, and nostrils all on top of their heads, hippos can lie almost fully submerged in a pool and still be able to see, hear, and breathe. In fact, hippos must stay in water during the day because their hairless skin makes them prone to overheating and dehydration. Hippos typically live close together in herds of 10 to 30 animals and spend the day resting and socializing - even using each other as headrests!

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Article by Valerie Deveraux
Photographs by $PLAYER

To the casual observer (or the unwary ungulate), crocodiles may look like nothing more than logs floating on the water.

Baby hippos are born underwater and must swim to the surface to catch their first breath. They must submerge again to nurse.

Grooming is one of the social behaviors hippos show at the shallow pools they inhabit during the day.

Shore Leave At night, hippos come out of the water to search for food. A single hippo can eat 100 pounds (45 kg) of grass before it returns to the water in the morning. Though hippos love to feed on short grasses near their pools, or "hippo lawns", they may walk up to 6 miles (10 km) during their foraging.

A crocodile, shown here digging a place for a nest, will defend its hatchlings aggressively.

Crocodiles come on shore to build their nests and lay their eggs. With their keen ears, an adult crocodile can hear her young calling from inside their eggshells! All the eggs in a nest hatch at the same time. The sex of each baby is determined not by its genetic makeup, but rather by the temperature of the environment in which it develops. Crocodiles from the same brood stay together while they are young.

Hippos spend a lot of time together during the day, but at night they forage independently.

Crocodiles start out in eggs, but once they hatch, they will continue growing all their lives.

Watch Out! As docile as crocodiles and hippos may seem when observed lying around their water holes, these animals are some of the fiercest in the Serengeti. Crocodiles are excellent hunters that use their tails and teeth to subdue their prey. They have sharper senses than most reptiles, and their eyes and ears have special flaps or membranes to protect them from water. Crocodiles can lie in wait in the water for hours, ready to snap up their prey. However, they don't need to feed often. Studies have shown that some crocodiles only eat about 50 full meals a year. If necessary, some adult crocodiles can live off the fat stored in their tails for up to two years!

Although hippos are plant-eaters, they are fully capable of killing animals that threaten them. Hippos have been known to trample humans that get in their way, and a hippo's jaws are strong enough to bite a 10-foot crocodile in two. Hippos also will occasionally fight amongst themselves, primarily when males are battling for dominance.

Despite the deadly force each possesses, the hippo and the crocodile - like so many animals in Africa - are able to coexist peacefully in the Serengeti, a fragile yet successful ecosystem that, in many ways, is the cradle of African wildlife.

Confrontations between hippos include yawning, rearing, jaw-clashing, and showering each other with dung.

Fearsome as they are as adults, crocodiles eggs are still easy meals when left unguarded.

For more information, visit: Woodland Park Zoo - Hippopotamus Turgwe Hippo Trust Wildwatch - Nile Crocodiles
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