Hippopotamus amphibious Shoulder height 150cm. Weight 2,000kg.
Characteristic of Africa's large rivers and lakes, this large, lumbering animal spends most of the day submerged but emerges at night to graze. Strongly territorial, herds of ten or more animals are presided over by a dominant male who will readily defend his patriarchy to the death. Hippos are abundant in most protected rivers and water bodies and are still quite common outside of reserves.

They are widely credited with killing more people than any other African mammal. They are clearly very, very dangerous – but I know of no statistics to support this, and many reliable sources suggest that that crocodile, elephant and lion could all vie for this dubious title. So, whilst undoubtedly dangerous, perhaps they don't quite deserve their reputation.

In Botswana you'll find hippo in good numbers in all of the major river systems: Chobe, Kwando-Linyanti and the Okavango. It'd be difficult to go on safari in any of the wetter areas of northern Botswana without seeing large numbers of hippo.