I have a bet with a friend going on. He says there is evidence that Hippos will eat meat. I say they are strictly herbivorous. I am now finding out that I may be wrong. Does anybody know for sure? Alf are you out there?

John

There is a video on youtube showing a hippo eating carrion.

Ann- yes, he sent me that video to me but does the Hippo actually eatit or is he just mouthing it. Seems that Hippos are not well equipped by tooth design to tear, chew then swallow meat.

John

Don't know for sure, but I do know that Herbivores do occasional eat meat, probably to get a mineral that they are lacking. I have seen photos of Whitetail Deer eating fish on a beach.

holy hamburgers batman - this may mean that a veggie sneaks hot dogs.

Maybe they get their minerals from biting people in half!

I am not surprised.

I have personally seen cows eating another dead cow.

Sounds like a good project/mission, for Walter to investigate. On the up coming trip. I would not be suprised if Roy helps to get Walter to the right hippo.

Keith

If nothing else, "Carniverous Hippos" is a great name for a garage band.

Keith- even meat eating hippos must show some discretion!

John

I saw a documentary about a year or so ago and a hippo was eating some old rotting meat. They said they will eat meat, but rarely do.

I kind of remember some footage showing a hippo eating some kind of meat on National Geographic or Animal planet. They said this was unique becaus hippos were thought to be strict herbivores. Might have even been a dead baby hippo.

I hate losing bets but it looks like I did.

Thanks for the input guys and gals!

John

Hippo's and Warthog's are Veggan's, but make no mistake: both will eat meat. Some animals like Chimps have developed an appetite for it. Hippo's will not turn down a nice bloated Wildebeast that didn't make the river crossing. Warthog's will eat carrion on occasion but it's not the norm. LDK

i have seen a video on a south african tv show called 50/50 where a hippo killed a python and played with it for a long time but eventualy ate part of it but it seemed more like it was a game then actively feeding.

I have heard reports of hippo munching on dead animals, and remember seeing one on tv chomping on a zebra that had been killed by crocs in the serengetti on their mass migration with the wildebeest. I also remember seeing a documentary where a bull killed a calf for no known reason, but did not eat it. I would think that it must have something to do with getting minerals and salts, which are not abundant in their normal diet. I have heard of warthog scavenging too, which is a bit unheard of for a strict grazer!

A bull will kill any calf's that he has not fathered so that the female can come into oestrus and carry his calf's and makesure his genetics get passed on

quote:

Originally posted by L. David Keith:
Hippo's and Warthog's are Veggan's, but make no mistake: both will eat meat. Some animals like Chimps have developed an appetite for it. Hippo's will not turn down a nice bloated Wildebeast that didn't make the river crossing. Warthog's will eat carrion on occasion but it's not the norm. LDK

Hippos have been known to eat carrion occasionally for a long time. I've not seen it live, but have seen it in documentries, especially durring drought. The corpse has a lot of liquid, as the tissue breaks down.

Any swine will eat carrion when available, and wild hog, and Javalina (which are not swine)are death on rittle snakes, or in fact any snake they can catch. Hogs are immune to rattlesnake venum, as well!

When I was a young surgeon, I spent a summer in Malawi. We had a patient in the hospital in Blantyre who tried to chase a Hippo out of his corn patch. The hippo chased him and bit off both buttocks flush with his back. The man was lying in bed in traction because of the femoral neck fracures and we were dressing what was left of his backside for eventual skin grafts. I do not know if the Hippo swallowed but he certainly got a mouthful.

Hi there, sorry my last post seems a bit misleading, just read it through again now, the infanticide of the bull killing the calf would not be to get salts (I hope!), but rightly, and most likely so he could mate with the cow again and ensure his genes and offspring made it through to the next generation. I found it strange, as I had never heard of hippos killing young before, I know with lions and chimps infanticide is common. I have heard male black rhino too can sometimes kill calves (I wonder if this is due to territoriality with male calves only or more due to discovering calves they know they have not fathered).

I have never heard of bull hippos going on a calf-killing spree after over-throwing another bull and winning his harem. I wonder if a bull hippo with a pod of cows can remember which cows are 'his' and who his kids are. In this case, it may have been a delinquent hippo, but it seemed to be a lone mother, possibly from another pod, and if so I can understand the infanticide.

Going back to vegetarians eating meat, I have also heard of equatorial yellow-backed duiker eating birds, and the water chevrotain (also a tropical duiker, which is partly amphibious) eating fish too! Bushpig love carrion, and am sure that that is probably true for all omnivorous pigs. Giraffe and kudu (and I am sure other antelope too) have been seen chewing or licking bones before. With regards to the hippo's carnivorous behaviour, I can only think of it being for salts, but then again, it would be best to ask the hippo himself, maybe they just like the taste of meat!!