High-speed hippos can get airborne, says new study

Hippos can get airborne when moving at high speeds over land, according to a new study.

Hippos can get airborne when moving at high speeds over land, according to a new study.

This is the first time that the animals, which can weigh more than 2,000 kilograms (2.2 tons) and spend much of their time in water, have been found to lift all four limbs off the ground when moving quickly, according to a statement from the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) in the UK.

After analyzing videos showing 169 movement cycles from 32 hippos, researchers found that the fastest-moving animals spend around 15 per cent of each stride off the ground.

John Hutchinson, study lead author and a professor of evolutionary biomechanics at the RVC, told CNN that very little was known about the way that hippos move on land.

“Hippos were a big missing part of the puzzle,” he said. “They’re really hard to study.”

Not only do they spend a lot of time in water, they are “very aggressive and dangerous” and are more active at night, said Hutchinson.

In the videos studied by researchers, hippos tended to move fast when something motivated them, such as chasing a rival hippo or being chased by lions or rhinos, he said.