Hippo facts

The Mara River makes the perfect home for hippos. They graze the surrounding reed beds and grassland and swim in the bends and pools of deep water. The river supports around 2,000 of these semi–aquatic animals, including a group of eight or so near to the Big Cat camp.

Hippos mostly rest or sleep in the day, lying out on the river bank and taking a dip to cool down or avoid any danger. After dusk ithttp://'+location.host+''s a different story. Searching for grass to graze they will often cover large areas along the bank and wander several kilometres away from the water. Feeding sessions can last five hours at a time, and are undertaken individually rather than as a herd.

With a large barrel-shaped body, short legs and huge skull, the hippo is the third largest land animal in the world. Adult bulls can reach 4–5m long and weigh four tonnes (4,000kg). Theyhttp://'+location.host+''re fearsomely armed too, with tusk–like canine teeth in jaws that have a gape of 150 degrees. The young are more vulnerable though; lions and hyenas will take calves if the opportunity arises. If they survive to adulthood, hippos can live for 50 years.

The hippohttp://'+location.host+''s grey to muddy–coloured skin — with a pink underbelly — is almost hairless and has few sweat glands. An oily secretion helps prevent sunburn; bathing in mud and water keeps temperatures down. Underwater theyhttp://'+location.host+''re surprisingly elegant. By closing their nostrils and sinking to the river bottom they can trot along at 8kph. They donhttp://'+location.host+''t need to reveal too much of themselves when they surface for air — nostrils, eyes and ears are all near the top of the head.

Hippos rest and wallow together in family groups, from just a handful to perhaps 30 members comprising females, their young and a territorial male. These bulls fight violently for control of a herd — those tusk–like canine teeth can inflict mortal wounds. Males that survive become solitary.

The dominant malehttp://'+location.host+''s territory — in which the group live — extends along a river for perhaps 250m and is held only along the water and its banks. The situation gets more complicated during droughts — times of stress for many animals. Hippo numbers can increase drastically at the deeper pools and, not unexpectedly, vicious fights are common.

The stretch of the Mara River where Big Cat Live is filmed regularly reverberates with the grunts and deep bellows of the local hippo group. See if you can spot them on the live webcams.