Hippopotamus
Hippopotamus amphibius Linnaeus, 1758
The hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) is a mammal in the family Hippopotamidae and the order Artiodactyla, also called Hippo, Sea-cow, Nile hippo, Large hippo or Common hippo. It falls in the giant size class, with a representative adult body mass of 1.417 tonnes and values up to 2.64 tonnes, and it is a herbivore whose main food is grass.
Quick facts about the hippopotamus
The hippopotamus is nocturnal and terrestrial, has 1 young per litter after a gestation period of 234.7 days, and reaches sexual maturity at 4 years. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, a threatened category, and its lifespan is given as 54.5 years, with values up to 61.2 years.
- Weight
- 1.42 t – 2.64 tsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 54.5 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 61.2 years
- Main food
- grasssrc for Main food
- Habitat
- riverinesrc for Habitat
- Gestation
- 235 days – 244 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 3.5 years – 4.53 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 0.61src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Vulnerable (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the hippopotamus
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the hippopotamus live?
Not recorded
What is the hippopotamus?
The hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius; ; pl.: hippopotamuses or hippopotami), often shortened to hippo (pl.: hippos), further qualified as the common hippopotamus, Nile hippopotamus and river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae, the other being the pygmy hippopotamus (Choeropsis liberiensis or Hexaprotodon liberiensis). Its name comes from the Ancient Greek for "river horse" (ἱπποπόταμος).
After elephants and rhinoceroses, the hippopotamus is the next largest land mammal. It is also the largest extant land artiodactyl. Despite their physical resemblance to pigs and other terrestrial even-toed ungulates, the closest living relatives of the hippopotamids are cetaceans (whales, dolphins, porpoises, etc.), from which they diverged about 55 million years ago. Hippos are recognisable for their barrel-shaped torsos, wide-opening mouths with large canine tusks, nearly hairless bodies, short legs, and large size: adults average 1.5 t (1.7 short tons) for bulls (males) and 1.3 t (1.4 short tons) for cows (females).
Hippos inhabit rivers, lakes, and mangrove swamps. Territorial bulls each preside over a stretch of water and a group of five to thirty cows and calves. Mating and birth both occur in the water. During the day, hippos remain cool by staying in water or mud, emerging at dusk to graze on grasses. While hippos rest near each other in the water, grazing is a solitary activity and hippos typically do not display territorial behaviour on land. Hippos are among the most dangerous animals in the world due to their aggressive and unpredictable nature. They are threatened by habitat loss and poaching for their meat and ivory (canine teeth).
From the Wikipedia article “Hippopotamus” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hippopotamus&oldid=1382059641), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
What does the hippopotamus sound like?
Is the hippopotamus endangered?
The hippopotamus is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List: it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Vulnerable species.
How is the hippopotamus classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderArtiodactyla
- familyHippopotamidae
- genusHippopotamus
- SpeciesHippopotamus amphibius Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms Hippopotamus amphibius amphibius, Hippopotamus amphibius capensis, Hippopotamus amphibius kiboko
Other names and names in other languages (128)
- Cape hippopotamusEnglish
- Common hippoEnglish
- Common hippopotamusEnglish
- Common hippopotamusEnglish
- East African hippopotamusEnglish
- Egyptian hippoEnglish
- Egyptian hippopotamusEnglish
- HippoEnglish
- HippoEnglish
- Large hippoEnglish
- Large hippoEnglish
- Nile hippoEnglish
- Nile hippopotamusEnglish
- Nile hippopotamusEnglish
- North African hippopotamusEnglish
- River hippopotamusEnglish
- River hippopotamusEnglish
- Sea-cowEnglish
- South African hippopotamusEnglish
- SeekoeiAfrikaans
- Gewone SeekoeiAfrikaans
- Suidelike SeekoeiAfrikaans
- فرس النهرArabic
- فرس النهر الشائعArabic
- فرس النهر الكبيرArabic
- فرس النهر المصريArabic
- فرس النهر النيليArabic
- فرس النهر الجنوب أفريقيArabic
- فرس النهر الشرق أفريقيArabic
- فرس النهر الشمال أفريقيArabic
- HipopotamoAragonese
- hipopótamuAsturian
- ХипопотамBulgarian
- জলহস্তীBangla
- HipopòtamCatalan
- hroch obojživelnýCzech
- NilpferdGerman
- FlußpferdGerman
- GroßflusspferdGerman
- ΙπποπόταμοςGreek
- Ιπποπόταμος ο αμφίβιοςGreek
- Hipopótamo comúnSpanish
- Hipopótamo AnfibioSpanish
- JõehobuEstonian
- اسب آبیPersian
- VirtahepoFinnish
- HippopotameFrench
- Hippopotame amphibieFrench
- Hippopotame communFrench
- NgabuFula
- DobhareachIrish
- cabbylawinManx
- היפופוטםHebrew
- दरयायी घोड़ाHindi
- VodenkonjCroatian
- Nilski konjCroatian
- Vodeni konjCroatian
- wezzai.ko<!--wezza'i-ko-->hts
- nílusi vízilóHungarian
- Գետաձի սովորականArmenian
- Kuda nilIndonesian
- IppopotamoItalian
- Ippopotamo del CapoItalian
- Ippopotamo del NiloItalian
- Ippopotamo egizianoItalian
- Ippopotamo meridionaleItalian
- Ippopotamo nordafricanoItalian
- Ippopotamo orientaleItalian
- Ippopotamo settentrionaleItalian
- Ippopotamo sudafricanoItalian
- カバJapanese
- ბეჰემოტიGeorgian
- JemTyap
- 물말Korean
- 하마Korean
- Hespê çemîKurdish
- nguvulch
- Didysis hipopotamasLithuanian
- RaoLuo
- NīlzirgsLatvian
- Нилски коњMacedonian
- നീർക്കുതിരMalayalam
- yemdeMossi
- पाणघोडाMarathi
- TééhoołtsódiiNavajo
- FlodhestNorwegian Bokmål
- Vanlig FlodhestNorwegian Bokmål
- mvuundc
- omvuuNdonga
- NijlpaardDutch
- Oost-Afrikaans NijlpaardDutch
- Hipopotam nilowyPolish
- Hipopótamo-sul-africanoPortuguese
- HipopótamoPortuguese
- Hipopótamo-da-África-OrientalPortuguese
- Hipopótamo-norte-africanoPortuguese
- БегемотRussian
- ГиппопотамRussian
- Обыкновенный бегемотRussian
- veliki povodni konjSlovenian
- Kali i NilitAlbanian
- flodhästSwedish
- KibokoSwahili
- ꠙꠣꠘꠤꠞ ꠀꠔꠔꠤsyl
- நீர் யானைTamil
- ฮิปโปโปเตมัสThai
- CivwubweTongan
- ImvwuvwuTongan
- HipopotamTurkish
- Doğu Afrika HipopotamıTurkish
- Güney Afrika HipopotamıTurkish
- Nil HipopotamıTurkish
- Su aygırıTurkish
- KubuTswana
- MpfubuTsonga
- MpfuvuTsonga
- Бегемот звичайнийUkrainian
- دریائی گھوڑاUrdu
- MvuvhuVenda
- Hà mãVietnamese
- ImvubuXhosa
- iMfooboXhosa
- 河馬Chinese
- 北方河馬Chinese
- 南非河馬Chinese
- 東非河馬Chinese
- 河马Chinese
- mVubuZulu
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the hippopotamus
Other species in the same genus Hippopotamus.
Cypriot pygmy hippopotamus
Hippopotamus minor
Malagasy hippo
Hippopotamus lemerlei
Malagasy hippo
Hippopotamus madagascariensis
CompareHippopotamus vs Hippopotamus antiquusHippopotamus vs Cypriot pygmy hippopotamusHippopotamus vs Malagasy hippoHippopotamus vs Malagasy hippo
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is a hippopotamus?
The hippopotamus is a mammal in the family Hippopotamidae and the order Artiodactyla.
How heavy is a hippopotamus?
An adult hippopotamus has a representative body mass of 1.417 tonnes, with values up to 2.64 tonnes reported.
What does a hippopotamus eat?
The hippopotamus is a herbivore, and its main food is grass.
Is the hippopotamus endangered?
The hippopotamus is listed as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List, which is a threatened category.
How long does a hippopotamus live?
The lifespan of the hippopotamus is given as 54.5 years, with values up to 61.2 years reported.
How many young does a hippopotamus have?
A hippopotamus has 1 young per litter, at a rate of 0.61 litters per year, after a gestation period of 234.7 days.
At what age does a hippopotamus reach sexual maturity?
A hippopotamus reaches sexual maturity at 4 years (1,467 days), with reported values from 3.5 to 4.5 years.
Who named the hippopotamus?
The scientific name Hippopotamus amphibius was given by Linnaeus, 1758.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/hippopotamus
“Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/hippopotamus.
@misc{hippopotamus_2026,
title = {Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/hippopotamus},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}