Despite spending much of their lives in water, hippos can’t actually swim.
It’s not for lack of trying, they simply weren’t built for it. Their bones are so massive and dense that they don’t float like other mammals.
Instead of paddling or gliding, they push off the riverbed in a kind of graceful gallop that looks like slow-motion moonwalking.
And somehow, it works beautifully.
In fact, hippos are so at home underwater, they can sleep there. A built-in reflex lets them automatically rise to the surface for air every few minutes without ever waking up.
And here’s another twist: baby hippos are actually born underwater. They instinctively paddle to the surface for their first breath just seconds after being born.
If you imagined a hippo as a floaty swimmer, think again. They’re more like river-tank ballerinas — heavy, precise, and surprisingly graceful below the surface.