Hippo's Wild World of Animals - Random Animal Facts

GumTurkeyles The stance they take to drink does look pretty awkward.  (Sorry, tagged the wrong person.)

That counts as "aren't generally".

Giraffes are very cool thanks Hippo. I'll just add that it was recently discovered that giraffes weren't mute as previously thought but that they hum at night.

I guess they don't know the words...

I think all zoos arrived at the same conclusion one day: "People love giraffes. Giraffes love to eat leafy greens. Let's charge 5 bucks for people to feed giraffes leafy greens!" I swear, every zoo has this now, but no matter: Where else can you get an up close look at a purple tongue? Ok, maybe a Chow Chow.

Yeah, fact about "giraffes".

There are many 'sightings' and 'reports' about them and these days even a lot of 'photographs' of them are available, you collected some of the best ones. But come on, this really belongs into Nudie's Mythical Beast thread.

We shouldn't hold our breath, Nudie is going to be quite occupied for the foreseeable future.

The panda bear is this week's factoid carrier, a switchout from ferrets which I was going to do this week but decided panda bears are more fun.

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Panda bears, on the relatively cute end of the bear scale and patron animal of endangered species but what else is there to them besides being the Friesian cow of the ursine world?

Within the Ursidae family, the panda bear or giant panda (or even "big bear cat") is mostly to be found in small enclaves deep in the mountains of Sichuan in China. As the animal most representative of endangered species through the World Wildlife Fund's use of one as their logo, they are well renowned for raising awareness of conservation for animals and their habitats.


Like other bears, the panda bear is carnivorous but due to a gene switcheroo some 2 million years or so ago they simply lost the taste for meat. They eat bamboo almost exclusively but as a consequence of having a carnivore's digestive system it means they have to eat a lot of it for little energy gain making them docile and sedentary.

Though the panda is a big ol' roly-poly bear we want to squeeze, they are not too different to bears at all often being aggressive towards humans. Size wise, they come in at 4~6' long and weigh 230~240 lbs, far smaller than a grizzly both in height and weight. They usually will live 20 years in the wild and upwards of 30 if in captivity.


One notable thing about the panda (and also a reason as to why they're endangered) is their very low reproductive rate with one new member of the species every two years.


Although classed as endangered and even with their low desire to reproduce in captivity, the number of pandas alive is increasing with most in the wild in numbers upto 2,000 with 400 in captivity around the world with most in China.

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To finish, here's some pics because come on, a panda is super-photogenic so why not?

Fun fact the Giant Panda has  the largest molar teeth of any carnivore and although their diet consists of 99% bamboo they've been known in the wild to top that with the occasional small rodent or musk deer fawn.




A deer fawn about to be mauled to death by a Giant Panda



Oh and they make cool hats :

It's more that they wish to become extinct but can't because humans keep wanting them alive so partial credit.

Not many takers for "Big Bear Cat" in the wonderful stakes though that's not mine and is a literal translation.

This week, we take on the allegedly cute hippopotamus. Yes, this is Hippo talking about hippos.

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The humble hippopotamus, often considered the dumb yet sweet animal of the African continent as well as a mildly deceptive name for a sloth but what's the facts on this creature?



Another ungulate, the genus of hippopotamus (meaning "river horse") are made up of five sub-species scattered mostly through mid- and southern Africa. Although widespread in range, the humble hippo is classed as a vulnerable species. A group of hippos can be known as a pod, herd or most fun, a bloat.


The hippo is one of the largest land mammals in the world weighing upwards of 3,000 pounds, it is also known as a highly aggressive species capable of killing crocodiles and having no real predator.


The depictions of the hippo going from horrible river monster to affectionate big characters isn't that old and as with many things in our culture got defined that way back in the 1930s and rolled on from there due to their appearance being rounded and friendly without really considering anything about their ferocious, angry nature.... so, so angry.



Hippos are a long-lived species, living upto 50 years even in the wild and have a long history of their associations with humans; being respected by the Egyptians through the god Taweret and the Zulu warriors as even though a lion is fierce, a hippo is incredibly strong and doesn't take much guff from attacking lions.

As well as being a fierce creature much like the rhino who we already consider a horrible threat, they probably could outrun you with a galloping speed of 20mph so try not to be chased by one, slowpoke.

Another interesting thing is that in 1910, a Louisiana congressman wanted to pass a bill to release hippos into the Louisianan bayous in order to eradicate a invasive plant species and to be used for meat given a severe meat shortage in the country at the time. The bill only failed with the slimmest of margins and it's entirely true.

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Of course, where would we be without some pictures? Nowhere, pictures are everything.

"punji trap"? No, don't tell me, it's okay. I could have mentioned their interesting methods of territory marking but I'm trying to not share their lesser attributes.