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Photo: Muhammad Mahdi Karim · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source ↗
Hippopotamus
Seekoei · Hippopotamus amphibius
A huge, barrel-shaped animal that spends its days resting in rivers and pools to keep its skin cool and moist. Hippos have wide mouths, enormous teeth and tiny ears, eyes and nostrils set high on the head so they can stay almost fully submerged. At night they leave the water to graze on grass along the banks.
Log your Hippopotamus sighting — free →How to identify it
Only its eyes, ears and nostrils poke above the water; nothing else in the river looks like a floating grey boulder.
Look for its tracks
Four round toes spread like a plump four-leaf clover; large, on worn paths leading up from water.
Where to see it in Kruger
Lives in permanent rivers and dams; the Sabie, Olifants and Letaba rivers are reliable places to find them.
Did you know
Hippos make their own natural sunscreen, sweating a reddish oily liquid that protects their skin from the sun.
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