Saltwater Hippopotamus

Photo: Jeff Singleton · CC BY-NC

The hippos of Orango have developed the unique cultural behaviour of entering saltwater to feed on marine vegetation, a phenomenon documented nowhere else in the species' range. They enter the sea most frequently at dusk and night, grazing on seagrass and occasionally consuming fish — and snorkelers and surface swimmers sometimes observe them at close range in the island's shallow bays. This behaviour appears to be learned and passed down within the local population, suggesting a distinct cultural lineage that makes Orango's hippos biologically and behaviourally unique.