The hippopotamus is capable of remaining underwater for as long as 25 minutes. During the day it often swims more than 30 km (more than 19 mi.) in search of food, emerging at night to feed on land plants. It eats sugarcane and corn and sometimes enters plantations, where it does more damage by trampling the plants than it does by feeding. Hippopotamuses have occasionally been seen in mountain rivers at heights of more than 1500 m (5000 ft) above sea level and at temperatures near freezing.
The common brown or gray hippopotamus, once widely distributed south of the Sahara and along the Nile to its mouth, and now found south of latitude 17° north, is one of the largest four-footed animals. The range of the hippopotamus has shrunk due to human intervention. The hippopotamus reaches a length of 2.9 to 5 m (9.5 to 16 ft) and weighs 1000 to 4500 kg (2200 to 9900 lb.). Because of its short legs it stands no higher than 1.5 to 1.65 m (5 to 5.4 ft) at the shoulder.
The pygmy hippopotamus is 1.5 to 1.75 m (4.9 to 5.7 ft) long, 0.75 to 1 m (2.5 to 3.3 ft) high at the shoulder, and weighs 160 to 270 kg (350 to 600 lb.). It is found only in western Africa, especially in Liberia. It is black on top, with a greenish sheen; below, it is yellowish-green. It is less aquatic than the common hippopotamus and is found in cool forests and in marshlands. Pygmy hippopotamuses almost always travel in pairs or groups of three immediate family members, rarely forming a herd.
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