Hippopotamus

While at the hippopotamus exhibit make sure to share the following information with those that are with you. The student worksheets have blanks for them to fill in. The answers are the BOLD words in the following statements:

1. The Greeks named the hippopotamus the RIVER HORSE! They spend up to 16 HOURS a day in the water protecting them from the sun. (See Fast Facts: Hippo, Ep. 1)

2. The hippo's skin can be up to 2 INCHES thick. (See Fast Facts: Hippo, Ep. 1)

3. How many humans do hippos kill every year? 2,900 (See Fast Facts: Hippo, Ep. 2)

4. Hippos produce BLOOD SWEAT to help heal cuts and act as a SUN BLOCK to protect them from the African sun. (See Fast Facts: Hippo, Ep. 3)

5. Hippos walk up to 6 MILES every night, eating up to 100 POUNDS of grass. (See Fast Facts: Hippo, Ep. 4)

6. Humans have 3 "lobes" in their right lung, while the left lung has 2 "lobes." How many "lobes does a hippo's lung have? ONLY 1 (See Fast Facts: Hippo, Ep. 5)

7. The leg bone of a hippo is SOLID BONE. This makes them very HEAVY, which allows them to stay on the bottom of lakes and ponds without FLOATING. (See Fast Facts: Hippo, Ep. 6)

BONUS:

Here's some additional information for you to share with those that are with you:

A. Even though hippos spend so much time in the water, they don’t swim! They can move extremely quickly while in the water but do so by actually running on the bottom of the lake or river.

B. Hippos hang out in groups that have many names. They’re called herds, schools, bloats, pods or sieges. Schools of hippos usually consist of 10 to 30 members, this includes both females and males. Some groups have had as many as 200 individuals. Almost always though these schools are led by a dominant male called . . . the principal! I’m joking about the principal thing, but the rest is true.

C. When a momma hippo gives birth to their one baby it will weigh between 50 and 110 pounds. That’s a BIG baby! They will typically have a baby once every two years.

D. Read Job 40:15 and share how many Bible teachers will say that this is talking about the hippopotamus. At first glance, you might just fall for it. BUT, if you dig deeper you'll soon find out just how wrong it is. Let's just critically evaluate a few of the verses with what we see in the world today:

Job 40

16 Behold, his strength in his loins, and his power in the muscles of his belly.

(Admittedly, there are some similarities here. But wait, there's more!)

17 He makes his tail stiff like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are knit together.

(Please take a look at a hippo's tail and decide for yourself if it looks like a Cedar TREE! Maybe a Cedar TWIG, but nothing like a tree. But here's something interesting. There is an animal that we know that actually does have a tail like a Cedar tree. No, it's not the elephant which is another animal some will try to say this very is talking about. No, it's not the alligator either. Yes, it may have a big tail, but it falls short in the other area's. The animal that this absolutely fits with is a sauropod dinosaur. By the way, Job liver AFTER the flood. This is an eyewitness account on what I believe to be a sauropod dinosaur.)

18 His bones are tubes of bronze, his limbs like bars of iron.

(Again, this does not fit with a hippo, an elephant or an alligator. A hippo's bones are not like "tubes of bronze". They're actually solid bone as we talked about. But, guess what, there is an animal that had bones exactly like those described here. And that animal is . . . a sauropod dinosaur.)

19 “He is the first of the works of God; let him who made him bring near his sword!

(Hippo's aren't the largest land animal, so this doesn't fit. Elephants ARE the largest land animal, but they fail in other areas as do alligators and crocodiles. But, there is an animal that was the largest land animal God ever created that fits this description. That animal is . . . the sauropod dinosaur.)

23 Behold, if the river is turbulent he is not frightened; he is confident though Jordan rushes against his mouth.

(This verse literally says the animal was so large that it could drink up the river Jordan . . . AT FLOOD STAGE! Again, at the risk of sounding repetitive, there is an animal that fits that description better than any other. I'll let you decide which it is!)