A Sunrise With Hippos - 01:30 pm
11 Mar 2010
Heading east from our camp to follow up on the lion (Panthera leo) roars heard during the night, there were numerous large splashes as we passed a now full pool. The splashing was being made by a pod of hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) returning to the water from their nightly grazing excursion.
The hippopotamus has a unique skin: it has a thin epidermis and no sweat glands. This means that hippos lose water at far higher rates compared with other mammals and being out of water during the day can cause them to dehydrate or overheat rapidly.
This pod was very inquisitive and approached the vehicle. The dominant male (pictured above) took the lead, with the cows and calves following behind. He quickly lost interest and headed back to the deeper water in the centre of the pool. Some of the calves were more curious about us and moved even closer to get a better look. Their mothers followed closely and as soon as they felt uncomfortable they moved the calves back to a more agreeable distance.
As the morning drew on, the remaining hippos lost interest and they all moved to the deeper water. We continued on and located the lion that had been roaring earlier. It was one of the Xakanaxa pride males and he looked in good condition, having been feasting on buffalo (Syncerus caffer) in the mopane (Colophospermum mopane) forests further east. I presume that this lion had moved west to investigate the roaring of the rogue males, who we saw 2 days ago on Mboma Island.
- Jason Loughran
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