Hippopotamus (Kuda Nil)

Hippopotamus are two species of herbivorous, chiefly aquatic mammals in the family Hippotamidae, order Artiodactyla. The name hippopotamus means “river horse,” in Indonesia usually called as “Kuda Nil.”


With the exception of the elephant, Hippopotamus amphibius is the largest living land animal and may weigh more than measure 1.5 m (5 ft) tall at the shoulder. The hippopotamus has short legs. Its eyes and nostris protrude high on head, which allows it to stay submerged in water for long periods. Mucous glands in the skin secrete a pink-pigmented liquid, and people once thought the hippo sweated blood.

H. amphibius lives the Upper Nile to South Africa. The calf is born nurses underwater. The pigmy hippo, Choeropsis liberiensis, grow to about 1.2 m (4 ft) long and weight about 230 kg (500 lb). Its habitat includes the wet forest and swamps of Liberia, Ivory Coast, and Sierra Leone.

An adult hippopotamus can weight more than four tons. It skin alone, including a thick lining of fat, weights 450 kg (1000 lb). The hippo is the largest land animal, next to the elephant.