Why Hippos Have Small Ears

Once, a long time ago hippopotamuses lived on land. They were heavy and slower than the elephants and rhinoceroses. The hippos had large round ears on top of their heads. Their ears were so large that they could hear a lion creeping through the grasses, and gazelles running miles away. Their large ears kept them safe because they couldn’t run fast, they shuffled along on their tiny legs. The great gray behemoths ate vegetation by the watering hole. They liked the water plants best.

They never went into the water though. The fish would sing out to them, Hey hippos come on in the water is fine. The hippos just smiled and kept eating. Even the oxpecker birds, the hippo’s best friends, would take a dip in the lake and encourage hippo to come in.

The hippos ate their favorite plants, they ate so many that they ate all of them, except for the ones closest to the water. The great gray creatures moved closer to the water so they could find more of the tasty treats.

The littlest hippo was eating plants on the shore of the lake when he tripped in a hole and fell right into the water. He felt the cool water on his back and tail. He could swim around easily and he wasn’t hot and sweaty anymore. He frolicked and played in the water.

The other hippopotamuses saw the little hippo splashing and they knew he was drowning. After all he was flailing in the water. The entire hippo family rushed in to save him.

The water felt the cool, They realized the little hippo was swimming. They all started swimming around the pond. They were light and there were the delicious plants right there in and under the water.

The oldest hippo dived down for a particularly succulent plant. He swam to the bottom and enjoyed the plant’s cool, leafy taste. When he returned to the surface all the other hippos were staring at him.

“What happened to your beautiful long ears?” they said.

The old hippo looked at his reflection in the water. His large ears had shrunk in the water. He looked around at the other hippos too. Their ears were smaller.

“They are so small!” laughed the little hippo.

Today when you see hippopotamuses swimming they keep their ears above the surface of the water. When they dive they always shake the water off their tiny ears first thing. They know exactly how long to stay below the water before their ears start to shrink. They don’t want their ears to get any smaller.