Hippos

Introduces the physical characteristics, behavior, habitat, reproduction, and life cycle of the hippo.
"The first hippopotamus I saw in the wild was when I was on a small boat on Lake Victoria, that huge stretch of water that is surrounded by Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya. We had anchored for the night-myself and my mother and two African crew. The sun had just set and the evening was quiet and beautiful. Suddenly there was a swirling sound in the water-and there, just a few yards away, was the head of a hippo. I think it must have been a male-a bull as they are called-for it was such an enormous head. Before darkness fell other hippos had appeared. They watched us for a while, from their strange pinkrimmed eyes, then slowly submerged. All that night we were serenaded by their extraordinary grunting, honk-honk-honk sounds. Our captain did not much like them so close. Hippos are thought to be one of the most dangerous animals in Mrica, killing many people each year. Hippos are territorial, and sometimes they seem to hate small boats coming into their territorial water."