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Weird & Wacky Hippo Stuff

Warning: some of this is GROSS. You have been warned!!!

dung shower dance (artist's impression)

1. The "blood sweat"

Hippos don't actually sweat blood. Their skin makes a special goo that turns red and orange in the sun. Scientists found it works like natural sunscreen and may also help fight germs. Built-in SPF, baby!

2. Dung showering

Male hippos spin their tails like a propeller while pooping to spray it everywhere. This is how they mark their territory. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

do hippos make their own sunscreen? YES.

3. The Colombian hippos

In the 1980s a drug lord named Pablo Escobar brought a few hippos to his private zoo in Colombia. After he died, the hippos escaped into the rivers and had lots of babies. Today there are well over 100 of them, and Colombia has officially declared them an invasive species.

4. MYTH BUSTED: pink milk

You may have heard that hippo milk is pink. It's not! This is an internet myth. Hippo milk is white, just like other milk.

hippo when you paddle into its river

5. Mini hippos exist

The pygmy hippo is a separate species from West Africa. It is much smaller, shy, and endangered. The most famous one is Moo Deng, a baby pygmy hippo from a zoo in Thailand who became an internet superstar in 2024.