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

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@terramater 6 ай 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: kzbin.info/aero/PLZ3CjNbCdQe-qL0vweacJkW6qvQpOtXYv

@CrabNicolson 6 ай бұрын

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

@sassa82 6 ай бұрын

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

@alveolate 6 ай 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.

@stevebennett9839 6 ай бұрын

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

@terramater 6 ай бұрын

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

@nil981 6 ай бұрын

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

@terramater 6 ай 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 6 ай бұрын

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

@glory2cybertron 6 ай 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 6 ай 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 6 ай 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.