Results of the Megaverebrate Analgesia Survey: Giraffe and Hippopotamus

Boothe, Matthew; Kottwitz, Jack J.; Harmon, Roy; Citino, Scott B.; Zuba, Jeffery R.; Boothe, Dawn M.

doi:10.1638/2015-0268.1

Cited by 5 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Alternatively, if a hippo is successfully darted but then retreats to water before the tranquiliser can take effect, it can drown. However, recent advances in drug combinations used to immobilise hippos have helped to maintain their breathing response, lowering the risk of drowning and reducing death rates overall (Stalder et al ., 2012; Boothe et al ., 2016). Lastly, an effective device attachment method for hippos is still to be devised because their stout necks prevent the use of neck collars.…”

Section: Future Research Directions and Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are hippos Africa's most influential megaherbivore? A review of ecosystem engineering by the semi‐aquatic common hippopotamus

2023

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Megaherbivores perform vital ecosystem engineering roles, and have their last remaining stronghold in Africa. Of Africa's remaining megaherbivores, the common hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) has received the least scientific and conservation attention, despite how influential their ecosystem engineering activities appear to be. Given the potentially crucial ecosystem engineering influence of hippos, as well as mounting conservation concerns threatening their long‐term persistence, a review of the evidence for hippos being ecosystem engineers, and the effects of their engineering, is both timely and necessary. In this review, we assess, (i) aspects of hippo biology that underlie their unique ecosystem engineering potential; (ii) evaluate hippo ecological impacts in terrestrial and aquatic environments; (iii) compare the ecosystem engineering influence of hippos to other extant African megaherbivores; (iv) evaluate factors most critical to hippo conservation and ecosystem engineering; and (v) highlight future research directions and challenges that may yield new insights into the ecological role of hippos, and of megaherbivores more broadly. We find that a variety of key life‐history traits determine the hippo's unique influence, including their semi‐aquatic lifestyle, large body size, specialised gut anatomy, muzzle structure, small and partially webbed feet, and highly gregarious nature. On land, hippos create grazing lawns that contain distinct plant communities and alter fire spatial extent, which shapes woody plant demographics and might assist in maintaining fire‐sensitive riverine vegetation. In water, hippos deposit nutrient‐rich dung, stimulating aquatic food chains and altering water chemistry and quality, impacting a host of different organisms. Hippo trampling and wallowing alters geomorphological processes, widening riverbanks, creating new river channels, and forming gullies along well‐utilised hippo paths. Taken together, we propose that these myriad impacts combine to make hippos Africa's most influential megaherbivore, specifically because of the high diversity and intensity of their ecological impacts compared with other megaherbivores, and because of their unique capacity to transfer nutrients across ecosystem boundaries, enriching both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Nonetheless, water pollution and extraction for agriculture and industry, erratic rainfall patterns and human–hippo conflict, threaten hippo ecosystem engineering and persistence. Therefore, we encourage greater consideration of the unique role of hippos as ecosystem engineers when considering the functional importance of megafauna in African ecosystems, and increased attention to declining hippo habitat and populations, which if unchecked could change the way in which many African ecosystems function.

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Section: Future Research Directions and Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%