Visit our YouTube channel for the "live action" footage of the watermelon smash!
Zookeepers added a little extra fun to Henry the hippo's day this morning. Today is Henry's 27th birthday, and one of the zookeepers gave him a couple of watermelons. It certainly was a something to see!
Henry's been at Dickerson Park Zoo since March 1982 when he was a young calf. He was born at the San Francisco Zoo.
A hippopotamus' eyes, ears and nostrils are situated on the top of its head, allowing it to see, hear and breathe while still mostly submerged in water. A hippo can stay submerged for up to five minutes before surfacing to take a breath.
At one time, there was a myth that hippopotamuses sweat blood. The truth to that is, they secrete a red or pink oily substance from their pores to protect their skin from the sun and moisture loss.
Hippos are herbivores. Henry eats a half bale of hay, two scoops of grain and a variety of produce each day. In sub-Saharan Africa where you find hippos in the wild, they stay in water or mud wallows for the day and come out on the surrounding plains to graze on grass at night. This adaptation protects their skin from excessive moisture loss.
Hippopotamus is a Greek word for "river horse."
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