Anti Gravity: When Hippos Go Bad; January 2000; Scientific American Magazine; by Mirsky; 1 Page(s)

Imagine a sport-utility vehicle interested in mating. That frightening scenario roughly captures your typical hippopotamus in rut. Hippos are big and surprisingly fast, able to reach speeds of 25 miles per hour. Unfortunately, anything of that size and speed may do inadvertent damage when in pursuit of an amorous adventure. Thus did a tragic death recently befall one Jean Ducuing, the director of a zoo near Bordeaux.Ducuing was killed by a charging hippo that may have been seeking intimacy with, or dominance over,nearby farm equipment.

The sex life of the hippo is far stranger than this incident illustrates. For one thing, hippos in the wild not only have sex,they host it.Back in 1994, researchers publishing in the Canadian Journal of Zoology announced the amazing finding of a species of leech, Placobdelloides jaegerskioeldi, for which hippos are a secret love nest. In the researchers' own words: "Evidence suggests that mating in P. jaegerskioeldi is restricted to the rectum of the hippopotamus." ( Restricted being the operative word.)