| Hippopotamus | Rhinoceros |
| Skin and Hair | Very thick, but virtually hairless skin. The hippo has neither sweat nor sebaceous glands as it relies on water or mud to keep cool. It secretes a viscous red fluid which protects the animal's skin against the sun and is possibly a healing agent. | The white rhino's has hair on the ear fringes & tail bristles, & sparse over the body. Javan & Indian rhinos are hairless; latter has a thick, silver-brown skin with huge folds & bumps on legs & shoulders. Sumatran rhino has dense hair in calves. |
| Mouth | Hippos have an enormous mouth and teeth. | White Rhinos have the distinctive flat broad mouth which is used for grazing in contrast to the Black rhino's pointed lip which they use to grasp leaves and twigs. |
| Horns and humps | Hippos have no horns or humps. | The white, black and Sumatran rhinos have two horns on snout. The Indian and Javan rhinos have only one horn. The White Rhinoceros also has a prominent muscular hump that supports its relatively large head. |
| Behavior | One of the most aggressive in the world and often the most ferocious in Africa. Hippos are gregarious, associating in herds of up to 40 with one adult bull, many cows & their young. Young bulls are evicted from the herd on reaching sexual maturity. | White rhinos: less aggressive, more sociable, in groups of 15. Black rhinos travel alone. Indian Rhino: Adult males are solitary, except for mating/fighting. Adult females are solitary when without calves. |
| Habitat | Hippos are semi-aquatic mammals. Rivers and lakes, not necessarily very deep, with pools of slow moving water and banks with good quality grazing is an ideal habitat. | The white rhino needs open undulating woodland with plenty of grass and permanent water. |
| Population | There are an estimated 125,000 to 150,000 hippos throughout Sub-Saharan Africa; Zambia (40,000) and Tanzania (20,000-30,000) possess the largest populations. | There are 17,500 white and 4240 black rhinos in the wild. In 2007 there were only 50 Javan rhinos in the wild, 200 Sumatran rhinos and 2620 one-horned Indian rhinos in the world. |
| Conservation | They are still threatened by habitat loss and poaching for their meat and ivory canine teeth. | Humans kill the rhino for its keratin horn. The Indian Rhino was brought back from the brink of extinction in 1908. Now there are over 400 Indian rhinos in the wild near Nepal. |
| Reproduction | A single calf is born after a gestation period of about 8 months. | Sexual maturity is reached at about 6 years of age, and one calf is born once every three years, after a gestation period of about 16 months. Mothers will stay close to their calves for up to four years after their birth. |
| Life span | Live between 40 and 50 years. | Most live till 60 years old or more. |
| Speed | Despite its shape hippos can outrun humans at 30km/hr at short distances. | The white rhino trots at a speed of 25 km/h and gallops at 40 km/hr. |
| Zoological classification | Hippopotamus amphibious; one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae. | A group of five extant species of odd-toed ungulates in the family rhinocerotiae. |
| Types | Only one of the two species exists today: Hippopotamus Amphibius. (The other was the Pygmy Hippopotamus.) | Javan, Sumatran, Black rhinos (critically endangered); the Indian one-horned rhinoceros (endangered); and the white rhinoceros (vulnerable, and lives in Africa). |
| Body shape | Stocky, barrel-shaped torso, enormous mouth and teeth, nearly hairless body, stubby legs and tremendous size. | The White Rhino has an immense body and large head, a short neck and broad chest. |
| Color | Grayish body | White rhino: Ranges from yellowish brown to slate grey. Indian Rhinoceros: Silver-brown.. Javan rhino: Hazy grey skin. Black rhino: Similar in color to the white rhino. Sumatran rhino: Reddish brown. |
Anupamaa
Real Estate
