A hippo stands near the riverbank cautious and wary of any other animals or people that come near it.

Alert Hippo

Zambia, Africa

Hippos spend most of their time in shallow water during the day. They come out of the water at night to graze on short grasses, or to look for the fruit of the sausage tree if it's in season. They may travel for miles while foraging.

Hippos may come out of the water during the day if it's cool or rainy, but they won't stay out for long because their skin is sensitive to sunlight. To counter this, hippos secrete a substance called "sweat-blood" that protects their skin from burning. It's a red-colored, oily substance that is colorless when first secreted, but turns red and then brown within minutes. It contains hipposudoric acid, the red pigment, and the orange pigment is called norhipposudoric acid. These pigments absorb ultraviolet (UV) rays, scatter light, and repel insects, but also have antiseptic properties. Hippo sunscreen.

Photo © copyright by Dr. Edward Mikol.

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