The common hippopotamus is a marvellous creature. On average adults weigh around 1.3-1.5 tonnes, but that doesn’t stop them from reaching 30 km/h. However, if you searched hippos online you probably have noticed that they are doing something weird. Hippos are spraying their feces like from a machine gun. Bu why do they do that?

If you don’t take anything else from this article, at least remember this – even in the zoo do not stand behind a hippo. When hippos are defecating, they typically start spinning their tails in order to spread their faeces all over the places. The radius they cover with this spray is rather large – can reach up to 10 meters, but in some cases even standing further will not protect you. On one hand – gross. But on the other hand – what a sight!

But why do they do that? That is how they mark their territory. You know, for the same reason why your dog pees on every single light pole. Usually this job is left for the male hippos, which make sure to get their message across. When an outsider comes too close, he can smell that he is coming into someone else’s territory and can make a decision if he wants to compete or to retreat and go back on his way. Hippos fight like crazy though.

This is how a hippo sprays his dung:

It is interesting that the intestines of baby hippos are pretty much sterile – there are no bacteria in them. This is bad news, because bacteria are needed in order to properly break down food. So mothers have to share these goods with their offspring – newborn hippos have to eat their mothers’ faeces. Gross? That is a nature for you. Koala’s and many other animals do that too.

Coming back to the spraying practices, you may be interested to know that wide distribution of hippo faeces are a bit of environmental concern. Well, they would be regardless of the spraying, because hippos stay close to the water and they pollute the entire shore. This thick layer of hippo dung is doing something to the aquatic life, but what? A 2015 study concluded that hippo dung provides nutrients to the aquatic life, but another research done in 2018 said that it is toxic. So maybe more studies need to be done.

Hippos are definitely not the cleanest. Females usually defecate by the heads of males in order to show their affection. A love letter, if you will. Hippos also defecate into the water that they swim in all the time. They don’t really care, but we suspect crocodiles are not so fond of these activities.