Archive for the 'Hippopotamus' category

Hippopotame - Copyright (C) 2008 Yves Roumazeilles

Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius, Hippopotame, hipopótamo común). Masai Mara, Kenya, September 2008.

After about 10 days out of France, I am back from the Masai Mara National Reserve (in Kenya). I brought back about 30 GB of wildlife photos (around 1700-1800 images) to be sorted out in the coming days. You can expect series of published images here on a regular basis.

Source: http://www.coreybehnke.com/.

Hippopotamus are large herbivorous from the same family as the horse. they seem quite peaceful but have a lot of available energy (and a considerable mass). Even if it is possible to encounter them out of water during the day, they prefer to avoid sun shine (they risk dying from sun exposure) and only eat grass at night.

Hippopotamus and Jacanas

Hippopotamus in the Mara River

Life in the wild savanah is a weird mix of leisurly quiet life (herbivorous graze in the sun, lions sleep in the shade of a tree, hippos float lazily in a river) and of terrible activity (antelopes are always alert about what is happening around, felines start running as fast as they can in order to hunt a needed prey, crocodiles spring onto the inattentive passer-by along a piece of water).

But the first thing you will notice is a slow quiet pace. The most striking element of this is the omnipresent animal yawn. And I want to celebrate this with a braid of photographs. But do not forget the fight for life.

Hippopotamus seem to be yawning, but it is actually part of its digestive processes.

 

On the contrary, the lions are dozing in the shadow during most of their day (it eats, sleeps, hunts to eat).

 

A green lizard too lazy to cross the Mara river (Kenya) is using the back of a friendly hippopotamus