Hippos!

I would never say I've been a fan of hippos. I certainly do not dislike them, but my favorite zoo animal has always and forever will be penguins. That being said, when I now see a hippopotamus I feel compelled to capture a great photo of them so that I may share it with Katie, a friend who is simply fascinated with this large sub-Saharan mammal.

When I was a child, my first exposure to hippos was through the children's game Hungry Hungry Hippos. Since then, hippos have made glamorous appearances in film's like Fantasia and Madagascar. There's also that world-class tune "The Hippopotamus Polka" from the early 1850's and "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" which made Gayla Peevey an instant child star in 1953. While these may seem relatively familiar, I will wager that you weren't aware that the Hippo is the second largest land mammal after the elephant, the heaviest even-toed hoofed animal (artiodactyl), are territorial only in the water, and prefer to graze in solitude. And even though the hippo is a pachyderm and somewhat resembles the even-toed hoofed pig, the hippo is actually descendant from whales and porpoises from which they diverged about 55 million years ago.

And despite the fact that hippos are stocky, have extremely short legs, and can weigh in between 1.5 and 3 tons, they can easily outrun a human at about 19 miles per hour. So with all these random facts, I dedicate the following photo to Katie Klatt.



I hope you enjoy Katie!!!

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Eric
Eric Lovelin Photography