Hippos keep the nutrient silicon on the move through the East African environment. Each day, the giant grazers transport nearly half a metric ton of silicon, an important nutrient for both plants and ...

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In the East African savanna landscape, hippos and their poop play a critical role. By chomping on large amounts of silica-rich grass at night, then defecating into the Mara River during the day, the ...

Hippopotamuses play a crucial role in East Africa’s ecosystem, ingesting copious amounts of silica-laden grass and excreting 880 pounds of the nutrient into Kenya’s Mara River every day. In turn, this ...

This is equal parts disgusting and hypnotic. We’ve seen hippos using their tails to spray their poop around, but we’ve only seen it on land—and the hippo wasn’t pressed right up against glass. Let’s ...

Every evening, hippos eat around 40 kilograms of grass and other plants rich in silicon dioxide – also known as silica – only to spend the following day lazing around in the water where they digest ...