Up to how many hours a day does a hippopotamus spend in the water?

The hippopotamus (shortened to hippo) is a large, mostly herbivorous, semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two extant species in the family ‘Hippopotamidae’, the other being the pygmy hippopotamus. The etymology of the word hippopotamus derives from the Greek for “river horse”. Adult hippos move at speeds up to 8 km/h (5 mph) in water; typically resurfacing to breathe every three to five minutes.

After the elephant and the rhinoceros, the hippopotamus is the third-largest type of land animal. It is also the heaviest extant artiodactyl (even-toed ungulate). Hippos measure 2.90 to 5.05 meters (9.5 to 16.6 feet) long, including a tail of about 35 to 56 cm (1.15 to 1.84 ft) in length. In terms of their weight, the mean adult weighs around 1,500 kg (3,310 lb).

According to the scientific classification of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the hippo is vulnerable. This organization includes the world’s most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species.

Most of a hippo’s life occurs in the water. They spend up to 16 hours a day in water as a way to stay cool, and then travel inland at dusk, sometimes up to 15 km (9 mi), to graze on short grasses, their main source of food. On land, hippos can gallop at 30 km/h (19 mph) but normally they trot.

On a daily basis they can consume 68 kg (150 lb) of grass each night.

Their body is described as barrel-shaped with short legs and long muzzles.