Are Hippos Turning into Carnivores? Tough Times in Africa’s Okavango Delta

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Күн бұрын

Botswana’s Okavango Delta is home to one of the world’s largest hippo populations. Despite their iconic status, these giant “river horses” are even more rare than African elephants, thanks to decades of targeting by poachers … and now a deadly drought.
↠ Want to know more wild facts? Check out our Wild to Know series: • Wild to Know
When vegetation is scarce, hippos sometimes eat meat. But scientists have recently observed the herbivores feeding on carcasses in wet seasons, too. What’s behind this change in diet? Are hippos carnivores now? And could eating meat even be killing them?
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Chapters:
00:00 Welcome to Hippotown!
00:32 The Hippos of the Okavango
01:20 Free Real Estate
02:09 Get out of my swamp!
02:27 The Real "Jaws"
03:41 Lion Encounter
04:28 Are Hippos Carnivores?
05:55 Video made BEFORE current drought!
06:06 The End. Please Like ;)
#terramater #hippo #carnivore

Пікірлер: 19

@terramater 20 күн бұрын

At the end of April 24, Conservation authorities said that herds of endangered hippos got trapped in the mud of dried-up ponds and are at risk of dying 🦛⚠ We produced this video shortly before the drought hit Botswana - check out the video and discover why the current situation could accelerate their diet shift from herbivores to carnivores and make Africa's most dangerous mammal even more aggressive. 🦛 ➡Want to know more wild facts? Check out our Wild to Know series: kzfaq.info/sun/PLZ3CjNbCdQe-qL0vweacJkW6qvQpOtXYv

@sassa82 20 күн бұрын

Are they really eating more meat or just that the observations of meat-eating have increased? Its two very different things.

@alveolate 20 күн бұрын

yea... this seems like a claim that would require some hard data; yet the video starts off by saying it's difficult to study hippos. feels like they wouldn't have hard data from stool sample studies, for instance... which is how they might study the diet of other animals. i'd imagine it's quite difficult to get representative stool samples from hippos since they probably poop in the water and it all gets washed away / diluted / mixed with other stuff. seems reasonable to assume they are basing this claim solely on observations, which may be biased / unrepresentative.

@CrabNicolson 20 күн бұрын

"Are Hippos Turning into Carnivores? " No, they are omnivores like they always have been.....

@stevebennett9839 20 күн бұрын

I believe hippos are the second deadliest creature in africa and mosquitos are the first.

@terramater 20 күн бұрын

Exactly! When it comes to mammals, they are top. However, kind of dubious honour 😬

@nil981 20 күн бұрын

Keep in mind that in the real world, there are no obligate herbivores. All herbivores can be carnivores if necessary.

@terramater 20 күн бұрын

Absolutely! But isn't it surprising, that hippos become more and more meat-eater during the last decades? Scientists do a great job in discovering new facts by monitoring species like the African hippopotamus!

@lucasmoreno2154 20 күн бұрын

Iirc there are no obligate carnivores either, though they eat much less vegetables than herbivores eat meat.

@glory2cybertron 20 күн бұрын

given hippos share ancestry with cetaceans and pigs, it's not that surprising as they still have the necessary dental arsenal for hunting

@terramater 20 күн бұрын

Hippo teeth can grow up to 50cm length 😳 we hardly couldn't believe the mind-blowing fact when doing the research for this video.

@jurassicmark9368 20 күн бұрын

@@lucasmoreno2154 it depends on how you would define an “obligate” carnivores. A lot of carnivores will accidentally ingest vegetable matter when they eat prey items, but would never actually seek out vegetable matter themselves. Think snakes, most felines, mantids, almost all spiders etc.