They share the waterways with crocodiles and other dangerous predators. They even have more biting power than a grizzly bear, which has an average biting power of 1,200 PSI.Ĭonsidering the kind of environment that the hippo lives in, it’s understandable why they’d need strong biting power. That puts hippos above most felines like tigers and lions but below most alligators and crocodiles. Their canines can grow up to 1.5 feet in length.īecause of their large teeth, hippos do use them offensively.Ĭompare this to the human ability to bite no more than 200 PSI, and you can see just how strong they are. Their incisors can grow up to 1.2 feet in length. They have a total of 36 teeth that are all sharp. Hippos, on the other hand, have very large teeth. Since they’re herbivores, they haven’t evolved in such a way that requires them to use their teeth for offense or to feed themselves.Īs such, elephants don’t use their teeth offensively. They’re herbivores, so they only use their teeth to grind up plants to eat them. One of the offensive traits that many animals have is the size of their teeth and bite power.Įlephants and hippos have very big differences when it comes to their teeth.Įlephants have very small and weak teeth. Survival in Africa for wildlife usually comes down to offensive capabilities. They move on land, but they primarily prefer to travel by water.īeing able to submerge themselves under the water for long periods allows them to travel relatively safely.Īs such, elephants travel by land while hippos travel by land and water. Hippos, on the other hand, are also aquatic in nature. Their standard type of movement is also slightly different.Įlephants are firmly land-based creatures.Īlthough they like to play in the water, they don’t use it as a means of travel. However, compared to most humans, that might still be fast enough to catch a swimmer. The average top speed for hippos in the water is only five miles per hour. That said, they’re rather slow in the water. Their smaller stature likely allows them to gain a bit more speed. They have an average top speed of 20 to 30 miles per hour.Ĭlearly, hippos are a bit faster than elephants. Hippos are faster than one might think as well. Their speed allows them to charge at predators to scare them off or even attack them. They’re often able to outrun most humans. While many think that elephants are slow because of their large sizes, this isn’t actually the case. It can help an animal stay clear of a predator or give them enough momentum to cause some serious damage.Ĭoncerning elephants and hippos, there’s a slight difference between the top speeds that they can reach.Įlephants can reach speeds anywhere from nine miles per hour to 25 miles per hour. Speed matters a lot in the African wilds. The average body length of a hippo is 10.5 feet to 16.5 feet.Īlthough hippos can be quite long, they don’t quite edge out an elephant.Īs such, when comparing the two animals in terms of size, the elephant is far larger than the hippo. The average length of an elephant is 18 feet to 21 feet. The elephant has far more height on them which allows them to tower over most animals in Africa.Ī final size comparison to consider is the length. In terms of height, the average shoulder height of an elephant is seven feet to 12 feet.įor hippos, the average shoulder height is four feet to five and a half feet.Īgain, it’s clear that even the smallest adult elephant is going to be larger than the tallest adult hippo. While there are always outliers and exceptions, in most cases, the elephant is going to weigh more than a hippo. The average weight of an elephant is 6,000 to 12,000 pounds.Īs for a hippo, the average weight is 3,000 to 4,000 pounds.Ĭlearly, even the smallest elephant is still going to weigh more than the heaviest hippo. When comparing them side by side, however, it’s obvious that the elephant is a lot bigger than the hippo. When observing them on their own, you’d think that both the elephant and the hippo were quite large. One main difference that is immediately noticeable is the size between an elephant and a hippo. Here’s what you need to know about the differences between an elephant and a hippo. Since they’re both separate species, there are quite a few differences between them. However, while they are similar in many ways, they’re also very different. They both have grey-brown bodies and are quite large. Elephants and hippos are standard animals one sees in the zoo or out in the wild in Africa.
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