Hippos can fly, briefly

"We were pleasantly surprised to see how hippos get airborne when they move quickly"

(Image credit: slowmotiongli / iStock / Getty Images Plus)

published 5 July 2024

What happened

Pigs may not fly, but hippopotamuses do — at least momentarily. When hippos get moving, all four feet leave the ground for about 15% of their stride cycles, researchers at Britain's Royal Veterinary College reported in the journal PeerJ. That 0.3 seconds in the air may not sound impressive, but hippos weigh up to 2.2 tons.

Scientists have been able to catalog how other large animals move on land, but "hippos were a big missing part of the puzzle," lead researcher John Hutchinson, a professor of evolutionary biomechanics, said to CNN. The massive animals are hard to study because they are "incredibly dangerous, they tend to be most active at night, and they spend a lot of their time in the water."

The study "places hippos somewhere between elephants and rhinos in terms of the athletic prowess," The Guardian said. Elephants move with a "standard walking gain even at high speed," but hippos always trot. "We were pleasantly surprised to see how hippos get airborne when they move quickly," Hutchinson said to the BBC. "It's really impressive."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.