Hippopotamus Patter

The hippopotamus is said to be more dangerous than the lion. A paper in Current Biology examined the role of the 'wheeze honk' vocalisation in hippopotami (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jan/24/hippo-talk-study-purpose-call-and-response). Calls were recorded from different pods of hippos in Maputo Special Reserve in Mozambique. The 'Wheeze honk' calls were then replayed to hippos in the same, neighbouring or distant pods. Hippos returned the calls and either moved towards the sound or sprayed dung. The spraying of dung, involves rapid lateral movement of the animal's tail, spreading the odour. The odour provides other hippos with information about that beast's sex and social status. 'Wheeze honks' from strangers elicited the strongest responses and dung spraying was more common in such cases. Social communication in the hippopotamus appears to be a mixture. Sounds are used for longer distances and odours for more intimate'chats'.