"Hippos are well-loved, cumbersome, rotund mammals famous for lounging, semi-submerged in muddy pools. Gregarious herbivores, they emerge after dusk from the water into the cool night air to graze on grass and plants before returning to the water at sunrise. They have huge mouths adapted for grazing as well as large, sharp tusks and jaws powerful enough to bite through crocodiles, small boats and even humans. Hippos originated in Asia and share a common ancestor with whales. The common hippo, once found all over Africa, is now largely confined to South and East Africa, while its close relative, the mysterious pygmy hippo, dwells only in the forests of West Africa. Until the last Ice Age, they were common across Europe, including Britain. To the ancient Egyptians the hippo was a revered deity, while at the same time it was hunted for sport; later, the Romans imported them into their circus spectacles. From the first Egyptian god, Taweret, to Obaysch, the first living hippo exhibited in the London Zoo in the nineteenth century, hippos have inspired wonder and awe."--Page 4 of cover.