Hip-Hip Hurray, It's Hippo Day!

Happy Hippo Day! We've put together our top 10 favourite facts about Hippos to celebrate -

1. Hippos are considered the third largest land animal on Earth, after the Elephant and White Rhino. They can grow to 3.3 to 5 meters long and up to 1.6 m all from hooves to shoulders. The average female hippo weighs around 3,000 lbs and males  3,500 to 9,920 lbs.  Baby hippos weigh a whopping 50 to 110 lbs at birth.
2. To help them stay cool in the African heat, hippos spend most of their day in rivers and lakes. Although they can hold their breath for approximately 7 minutes, their eyes, nose and ears (which they can close to prevent water from entering) are located on the top of their head, which means they can see and breathe whilst cooling off in the water. Hippos are usually large enough to walk or stand on surfaces, such as sandbanks, below the water, rather than swim.
3. The name hippopotamus means ‘river horse’ and is often shortened to hippo. However, hippos and horses aren't closely related. In fact, the closest living relatives to hippos are pigs, whales and dolphins.
4. Hippos eat at night and can travel up to 6 miles, spending four to five hours grazing, eating about 80 lbs of grass. They also eat fruit that they find during their nightly strolls. Although this sounds like a lot of food, hippos eat just 1–1.5 per cent of their body weight every day.
5. Hippos secrete an oily red substance, which people often think is blood. The liquid is actually a skin moistener to stop their skin from drying out and sunblock that also provides protection against germs.
6. Although hippos might look a little chubby, they can easily outrun a human. It has been said that hippos can run as fast as 30km/h!
7. Hippos are very social and hang out in groups called schools, bloats, pods or sieges. Schools of hippos are usually made up of around 10-30 members. There has been reports of groups of hippos holding as many as 200 members! Although usually led by a dominant male, the groups consist male and female members.
8. Hippopotamus' are found in Africa and can live up to around 45 years in the wild. Hippos in captivity live around 50 years.
9. A male hippo is called a 'Bull', a female hippo is called a 'Cow', and a baby hippo is called a 'Calf'.
10. You can Create-your-Own Hippo Onesie on our Personalised Onesie Builder!

We have a collection of pre-designed Hippo Onesies that can be found in our Hippo Onesie Collection.

All of our Hippo Onesies are fully customisable on our Personalised Onesie Builder.

We also have a selection of Grey Fabrics that you can mix and match to Create-your-Own Hippo Onesie.

From Cotton T-Shirt to Premium Cuddle Fleece and even Bamboo Towelling.

If you’d like to see any of our Grey Fabrics before ordering, you can order your complimentary Fabric Swatch Pack through our Fabric page and select exactly which fabrics you’d like to see.

Since every onesie is completely customisable, your Hippo Onesie can be as many different colours or patterns as you'd like.