How do Hippos Fart | Is Hippo Fart the Loudest?

People have a natural tendency to be fascinated by a wide variety of animals, and hippos are among those creatures. They are commonly seen as being aggressive and dangerous, but they are also well-known for possessing distinctive physical characteristics that set them apart from other animals.

The subject of whether or not hippos fart is one that is posed rather frequently regarding these animals. But how do hippos fart? The correct response is that hippos are able to fart, but contrary to popular belief, their flatulence is not nearly as loud as one might anticipate. The sound that a hippo makes when it fart is more akin to that of playing cards being blown on by a table fan.

Although hippos are capable of passing gas, their flatulence is not particularly loud or detectable. Hippos are also well-known for producing massive amounts of feces when they defecate. There are occasions when they defecate so much that it might be harmful to the surrounding environment.

Sound of a Hippopotamus Farting

The fact that hippos also create some of the quietest flatulence in the animal kingdom is unknown to a lot of people. The sound of a hippo fart can only be heard if the observer is very close to the animal, which is something that should be avoided at all costs because hippos are known to be rather aggressive.

Although it may seem as flatulent hippos are quiet, in reality, they are quite talkative and have the ability to create sounds that are up to 115 dB in volume. The sounds that most of us picture when we think of a hippo going to the bathroom are actually the sound of a stool being sprayed by the tail, not the flatulent noise itself.

How Do Hippos Fart?

One piece of information that can be found on the internet appears to be incorrectly stating that hippopotamuses pass gas through their mouths. The reasoning that they used to come to this conclusion was that hippos have their stomachs situated more closely to their mouths.

A hippopotamus, on the other hand, will never behave in such a way. Hippos do, in fact, possess a complicated stomach that is composed of three chambers and is situated much closer to the head. However, this does not inevitably imply that they have to blow their farts via their mouths.

Even more surprising is the fact that they do not chew their cud as cows do. The stomach of a hippo serves as a biological fermentation chamber; hence, whatever greens it consumes directly will be processed there.

They excrete through a little hole that is placed at the bottom of their bodies, just like any other animal would. Both the bowel movement and the flatulence occur at the same time. The next part of the process is the tail, which has a strong motion that sprays feces in all directions.

Loudest or longest?

Undoubtedly, a hippo’s fart is louder than that of any other African mammal. This is a result of the hippo’s daily consumption of up to 40 kilograms of grass and other vegetation. Methane and other gases are released as a protracted fart as this food digests in the hippo’s digestive system.

In actuality, the longest recorded hippo fart lasted for over 10 seconds! Hippo farts are not only unpleasant to smell, but they can also be extremely entertaining. For instance, a resident hippo’s comical poop explosion entertained a group of families at an African zoo. 

Hippos undoubtedly have the longest and loudest farts of any mammal on the continent, according to some reports.

Do you need to worry about the smell?

It is always necessary for undesirable gases to be expelled, but this is especially true for a large hippopotamus. Even the animal’s flatulence has a putrid odor, despite the fact that it consumes enormous quantities of greens and never chews its cud.

However, that is not the only thing you need to be aware of. They spray the feces with their powerful tail, which poses the same risk as the tail itself. This dung spraying has a potential range of up to 10 meters in terms of its radius. Nobody wants to be covered in hippo feces all over their body. That would be a terrible disappointment for them on the trip.

Hippopotamus Stool Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages of hippopotamus defecation:

• Hippopotamuses play a vital role as a link between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems thanks to their unique ability to swim.
• Hippopotami feces give crucial nutrients to aquatic organisms.
• The excrement also contributes to the furtiveness of the soil throughout Africa.

The disadvantages of hippopotamus defecation:

• Hippos move silicon around in the water ecosystems of Africa’s lakes. They eat a lot of grass that is high in silica, which comes out of their bodies when they poop. This silicon needs to be in the water of Africa in a certain amount. Anything less or more than that could cause algal blooms that kill fish and plants that live in water.
• The gas that comes out of hippopotamus farts is mostly methane, which is worse for the atmosphere than carbon dioxide.
• The presence of excessive amounts of hippo excrement can be harmful to aquatic organisms.

Final Words

Excretion from a hippopotamus affects nature in both positive and negative ways. The excretion is full of nutrient-rich organic matter, which can help to fertilize the ground and promote plant growth. However, the high levels of nutrients can also lead to an overgrowth of aquatic plants, which can create problems for the local ecosystem. In addition, the excretion can spread disease-causing bacteria and viruses, which can harm both humans and animals. But nature eventually finds a solution. We can expect them to live for hundreds of years more if the ignorant masses don’t cross into their territories and kill them all.

Read our other Hippo blogs below:

• Do You Know How Fast Can a Hippo Swim?
• Can You have a Pygmy Hippo Pet?
• How Wide Can a Hippo Open its Mouth? Let’s Explore
• Hippo Life Cycle | What is The Lifespan Of A Hippo?
• Hippo vs Saltwater Crocodile: Key Differences (And Who Would Win in a Fight)