What do hippos eat in the zoo

During the night, hippos are solitary feeders and often feed individually except for the younger calves. This is unlike their more social setting in the water where they stay in big groups with a dominant male. While hippos have intrigued humans since the time of the Ancient Egyptians, the sight of a hippo yawning in the river is exciting and somehow threatening. While their bodies, name, mouth and teeth are all very interesting, a hippo's digestive system is unlike any other animal.

This is why they are able to utilize food in a way that an elephant could never dream of. As nocturnal grazers, it is unlike that you will see many hippos eating beyond the river bank but when you, you should remember that their stomach system is one of the strangest and most efficient of big animals.

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What do hippos eat in the Wild? Top Articles. Your name. The neck is short and thick, with heavy folds of skin. Their skin is very thick, up to 3 inches in most places!

The eyes are protruding and the small movable ears are set high up and far back on the head. The nose is slit-like. With their sharp hearing, they can hear the sound of dropping fruit. In captivity, a hippo eats a combination of plants -- including hay, alfalfa and lettuce. On special occasions, hippos may get pumpkins or melons as a treat.

Zoos provide hippos and other herbivores with special vegetarian pellets that fulfill their nutritional needs. Hippos don't move a lot during the day, so they consume just 88 pounds of food per night.

This may sound like a lot, but when you compare it with their size, it comes out to just 1 percent or 1. Weakly rooted grasses are eliminated from the grazing areas with this action Coarse, tussock-forming grass species not eaten Short creeping grass species preferred that can be grasped with lips Plant species in diet include: Cynodon, Panicum, Heteropogon, Sporobolus, Themeda, Cynodon, Digitaria, Eriochloa, Tragus, Brachiaria, Urochloa, Chloris, Setaria, Cyperus.

Unlike many artiodactyls, hippos don't ruminate Food is coarsely ground by back molars; front teeth not used in feeding Have a multi- chambered stomach where carbohydrates are fermented; two day's worth of grasses can be held at one time Intestines extremely long much longer than other grass eaters Slow rate of digestion derives maximum benefit from a nutrient poor diet of grasses and dry forage Low metabolic rate allows survival for many weeks without food Eat approximately Contact Us Email the librarians at library sdzwa.