Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Mara River Hippo- Kenya

There are few reasons why a hippo would remain out of the water during the day- nursing wounds from fighting is one. I suspect wounds heal quicker out of the water for hippo, and fish nibbling constantly on sensitive exposed flesh can be intolerable. The possibility of life-threatening heat prostration is very real when a hippo remains out of the water though, and in time this fellow would be forced to leave his mud-hole for some shade or return to the river.

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