By Josie  April 24th, 2024

Hippos at Zoo Eating Whole Pumpkins as a Snack

Who doesn’t love a good snack? These hippos certainly do, but what they call a small snack is not what we’d call a snack – they can easily eat whole pumpkins.

Two hippos are about the receive and juicy (and massive) snack – pumpkins. With their huge mouths and strong jaws, they are able to bite down and eat them as if they were apples.

The Footage

Although these chunky creatures are incredibly adorable, we can conclude that they’re also incredibly dangerous if they can eat a whole pumpkin just like that.

Hippopotamuses are among the world’s most dangerous creatures, even though they only eat plants (and are adorably chunky!)

Dangerous Vegetarians

With males passionately guarding their territory and females fiercely defending their young, their violence can be shocking.

Hippos can run at 19 mph and weigh up to 3,300 pounds – and you don’t want that charging at you at full speed, or the outcome could even be deadly.

The bite force of a hippopotamus is among the most powerful in the animal kingdom, estimated to be around 1,800 pounds per square inch (psi).

A Hippo's Bite Force

For comparison, this force far exceeds that of most predators, including lions. Maybe they are more deserving of the title as the king of the savannah?

Seeing as their diet almost only consists of grass, their powerful bite is primarily for defense rather than for feeding.

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