First we draw a small semicircle for the head of the hippo.

Then outline the face of the hippo. Notice the variation in the lines.

At the top of the head we draw the small ears of the hippo.

Draw two dots for the hippo's eyes.

Draw the hippo's nose and nostrils.

A smiling mouth showing two incisors.

Paint some lovely blush on the hippo's face.

Draw two thin straps of back under the head.

And the hippo's short two arms.

Connect the arms to draw the hippo's chubby body.

And an inverted U shape to connect the hippo's little feet.

Draw its bulbous belly as well.

And its belt and toes. Look closely at the details.

Let's decorate its surroundings with grass.

And draw a sunflower to accompany the cute little hippo.

Finally, let's paint the painted hippo with nice colors.

The range of the hippopotamus

At the end of the Ice Age, the hippopotamus was widely distributed in North America and Europe. At that time, hippos were able to survive in cold climates.

Origin: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central Africa*** and States, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo*** and States, C?te d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, United**** States of Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Regional extinctions: Algeria, Egypt, Mauritania.

Lives mainly in Arusha National Park, Lake Manyara National Park, Mikumi National Park, OAG Nature Reserve, Ruaha National Park.

Habitat

The hippopotamus is an amphibian that lives in groups, is a good swimmer, is afraid of the cold, and prefers a warm climate. Their skin will dry out if they are away from water for a long time, and their life of foraging, mating, giving birth and breastfeeding are all carried out in the water. Hippopotamus is a herbivore, but sparse fangs ten centimeters long, female hippopotamus for the protection of the young hippopotamus is very aggressive in the field. Hippos move in pairs or small groups, older males often move alone. Nocturnal: They spend almost the entire day sleeping or resting in or near rivers, and come out to feed at night, sometimes swimming more than 30 kilometers downstream to forage for food. Mainly feed on aquatic plants; occasionally eat land crops, mainly grass, sometimes go to the field to eat crops, food shortage, they also eat meat.

The hippopotamus has a large body, but walking in the water is very light. In the hot sun, the body surface with muddy water is better able to protect it from the scorching sun. Hippopotamus skin sweat glands can secrete a red liquid as a natural sunscreen to moisturize the skin, often mistaken for blood, called "blood sweat". Because its skin is very sensitive and will dry out if it is out of water for a long time, it spends most of the day lazing around in the water, relying on the water to help regulate its temperature and prevent its skin from drying out, and sleeps on the shore at night. Its eyesight is so poor that it can't even see above the water's surface, but that doesn't bother it because it's often so murky underwater that it's impossible to see far.

The hippopotamus likes to camp group life, led by the female, each group of 20-30, sometimes up to a hundred or more, especially in the dense water and grass, on average, every 5.5 square meters there is one. It has a special set of . , as valves generally use flexible muscle tissue, can close up the ears and nostrils in the dive, each dive time up to 5-10 minutes or so, but not like aquatic mammals in the physiological adaptability to water, living on land for a long time, can run at a speed of 20 kilometers per hour, so can only be regarded as a kind of semi-aquatic animals. Normally the hippopotamus will be completely submerged in the water, only the ears, eyes and nostrils exposed to the surface of the water, so that not only can breathe normally, but also be able to detect the danger in time without being detected by the enemy. In addition to being safe and cool, the water also helps to support its large and heavy body, allowing it to walk freely in the water.

Although the hippopotamus always stays in the water, it cannot swim and can only dive. When frightened, it usually avoids the water. Most of the time in the water every day, submerged underwater generally every 3, 5 minutes to the head out of the water to breathe once, but can be submerged for about half an hour without coming out of the water to change air. Hippopotamuses are usually quiet, but when they lose their temper, they often fight, each using their sharp teeth to stab the other's thick skin. Sometimes in the river to start the anger, it dares to top over the boat, the boat into two pieces.

Morphological features

The hippopotamus is the second largest mammal on land after the elephant, the body is huge and clumsy, adult males body length of 350-450 centimeters, the tail length of about 56 centimeters, weighing 3,000-3,500 kilograms, but shorter, limbs are particularly short, the height of the shoulder is only 140-165 centimeters, less than half as high as the elephant. The elephant is less than half as tall. There is a thick head and a particularly large mouth, larger than any other animal's mouth on land, and the foot can be opened at an angle of 90 degrees. The teeth in the mouth are also very large, the incisors and canines are fang-like and are the main weapons of attack, the lower incisors do not grow upwards but stick out parallel to the front like shovels, and are up to 60-70 centimeters in length, weighing 2-3 kilograms, and the canines are up to 75 centimeters in length or so. The eyes, nostrils, and ear shells are borne on the upper end of the face, almost on the same plane. The skin is thick, up to 4-5 centimeters thick on the back and sides, dark brown and russet purple, smooth and hairless, with some hair only on the end of the mouth, the inside of the ears and the tail. There are four toes of almost equal size on each of the front and hind limbs, with hooves at the tips of the toes, which are shaped like flat claws and slightly webbed between the toes.

The body of the hippopotamus is covered by a thick skin, which is bluish-black with brick-red markings, and there is almost no hair on the body except for some short hairs on the tail. The hippopotamus' skin is extraordinarily thick, and inside the skin is a layer of fat, which allows it to float effortlessly from the water. Much more water evaporates from the hippo's skin when it is exposed to the air than from any other mammal, and the hippopotamus has no sweat glands on its skin, but does have other glands that secrete a slightly reddish, moist substance similar to suntan lotion, and protects it from insect bites. Hippos cannot stay out of the water for too long. For this reason, hippos must stay in water or a moist habitat to prevent dehydration.

Breeding

Hippos mate in water and do not have a regular breeding season, females have a 210-255 day gestation period and give birth in water, producing 1 litter. The newborn cubs weigh 40-50 kilograms and can walk and swim 5 minutes after birth. Hippopotamus mothers with cubs become very vicious in nature. After the cubs are born, the females take careful care of them, lactating in the water, only letting them move within the visible range, and patiently teaching them to swim and roll to protect them from harm. For several months thereafter, the female often lives away from the group with her cubs, as the cubs may be killed by aggressive males or attacked by crocodiles.After 4-6 months, the cubs are able to graze, and nursing lasts for about 1 year, with females often single-handedly assuming the responsibility of rearing their offspring for periods of time that can extend up to 18 months. Females mature between 7-9 years of age and males between 9-11 years of age, with a lifespan of about 30-40 years.

The female hippopotamus typically lives alone with her young for two months, quietly enjoying her day. Mother and child often lie quietly resting, with the baby hippo snuggled close to its mother's mouth. Sometimes, the mother and want to take it to the water, because the hippo always get rid of how to stabilize the body temperature of the problem, the shore stayed long, you have to go into the water to cool down, this time the little hippo will be very skillful to climb on the mother's back or neck into the water. Little hippo also need to keep eating milk, female hippo body lying down, put a hind leg to stretch out, breasts will be exposed, the little river milk, female hippo will use the other hind leg to hold the breasts keep massaging to stimulate the milk. Mosquitoes will fly from time to time, these guys on the flow of scattered milk is very favorite, sometimes rest in the nipple around, the mother hippo so with a big mouth vigorously beat the river, so as to scare away everywhere flying mosquitoes. Little hippopotamus can go ashore on their own, the mother hippopotamus will no longer coddle it, let it dive, the little hippopotamus will inevitably fall when climbing ashore, the mother hippopotamus with her mouth to hold it, to encourage it to climb up on their own. The mother hippo also does not condone the mischievous play of the little hippo, will use the huge body to block it, or simply with a big mouth to "teach" it a lesson.