Hippo – the river horse that lives on both sides

In former times, there were many species of hippo, which were distributed in the major part of Eurasia and Africa. Until about a million years ago, eight species existed in Africa, and on Madagascar three species became extinct in historical times, probably exterminated by people who colonized the island from Indonesia about 2,000 years ago. Today, only two species remain, both in Africa.

Hippos are highly gregarious, living in smaller or larger herds, which spend most of the time submerged in ponds or rivers, or basking in the sun along the shores. When sun-bathing, they excrete a red fluid, which was previously erroneously thought to be blood, but is merely sweat. This sweat creates a varnish-like layer, which protects the animal from getting sunburned. In the daytime, their characteristic call, sounding like a honking laughter, is often heard.

The herd is organized in a rigorous hierarchy, each member having its status within it. There is often much squabbling and fighting among the members, and most animals carry a lot of scars on their hides, inflicted by the huge tusks in their lower jaw.

A very peculiar habit of hippos is to spread their dung in the water, flicking their tail back and forth, like a pendulum.

If a hippo feels threatened in the water, for instance by a passing canoe, it attacks without warning, its huge teeth crushing the canoe and everybody in it.

In ancient Egyptian mythology, the god Seth was often depicted as a hippo. He was a grim fellow, who killed his brother Osiris and spread his parts all over Egypt. When reaching adulthood, the falcon-headed god Horus, son of Osiris, revenged his father, killing Seth. The ferocious battle between the two is often depicted in Egyptian temples.

In the major part of Africa, hippo meat is much relished by people, and it has become extinct in countless places due to overhunting. Hippos are also often killed because of the damage they cause by eating crops. Today, the species is only common in some national parks and private game parks.

In Columbia, a herd of hippos, once owned by the late drug baron Pablo Escobar, has spread to wetlands near his former estate. Nobody knows, how many animals are living in the wild here, but they constitute a growing threat to the local wildlife. (Source: bbc.com/news/magazine-27905743)

Local papers began writing about her, and when, by chance, it would often rain when she arrived at a new location, the natives began to regard her as some sort of rain god. Many Zulus viewed her as a reincarnation of Shaka kaSenzangakhona (c. 1787-1828), also known as Shaka Zulu, a famous ruler of the Zulu Kingdom. This belief was reinforced, when two members of the tribe, who had been laughing and throwing stones at her, suddenly died in a landslide.

Indians of Natal also regarded her as a reincarnation and worshipped her in their temples. Farmers fed her cabbages, celery, sugarcane and other goodies, and when they failed to do so, she would gorge herself in their fields, ploughing up vegetables with her sharp tusks.

When she entered Durban, the town had planned a party in honour of her, feeding her a huge bundle of sugarcane. However, a sign on top of the bundle, saying Welcome Hubert, scared her, so she trotted off, entering Victoria Park, where she dined on exotic flowers. These, however, made her thirsty, so she went in search of water. Snatching guavas and other fruits from a fruit vendor on the way, she hastened towards the town reservoir, where she had a bath.

Huberta soon got tired of people, who wanted to scratch her back, and set off for the town of East London, about 400 km down the coast. Despite her having been declared Royal Game – and thus protected – by the Natal Provincial Council, she was shot by hunters, when she had almost reached East London. Following a public outcry, the hunters were arrested and fined £25.

The carcass of Huberta was shipped to London to a taxidermist, arriving back in South Africa in 1932. Today, she is displayed in the Amathole Museum (formerly the Kaffrarian Museum), King William’s Town, Eastern Cape Province. In 1953, citizens of Durban erected a life-size statue of her in Victoria Park.

Although the pygmy hippo has been legally protected since 1933, it is very rare today, restricted to four river systems in West Africa. Its rainforest habitat has been cleared to create farmland, and by the logging industry. It is also hunted illegally. Today, the pygmy hippo is threatened with extinction.

A sister species was the little-studied Malagasy pygmy hippo (C. madagascariensis), one of three recently extinct hippo species from Madagascar. The Malagasy pygmy hippo was of similar size to C. liberiensis, but was more terrestrial, inhabiting forested highlands. It is believed to have gone extinct within the last 500 years. In former times, very similar species lived in East Africa, India, and southern Europe.