Hippopotamuses

"Sneaking up on someone isn't see easy for us hippos. Unless we're in the water."

- Beshte, Follow That Hippo!

Hippopotamuses are creatures that inhabit the Pride Lands.

Appearance
Hippos have thick gray or blue-gray skin, sometimes seen with darker spots. They have large, flat teeth and occasionally have small amounts of hair atop their head.

Information
The hippopotamus (meaning "river horse") is a large, mostly herbivorous mammal. After the elephant and rhinoceros, the hippopotamus is the third largest land mammal. The hippopotamus is semi-aquatic, inhabiting rivers, lakes and mangrove swamps. Hippos spend most of their days wallowing in the water or the mud, with the other members of their pod.

The water serves to keep their body temperature down, and to keep their skin from drying out. With the exception of eating, most of hippopotamuses' lives —from childbirth, fighting with other hippos, to reproduction— occur in the water. Hippos leave the water at dusk and travel inland, sometimes up to 8 kilometers (5 mi), to graze on short grass, their main source of food. The hippo's proportions reflect its sedentary, amphibious existence. Its plump and bulky body is set on short, stumpy legs, with each foot having four toes.

The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar
Kion and Bunga leap across the backs of a hippo pod as they play Baobab Ball. Kion later recruits a hippo named Beshte to be the strongest member of the Lion Guard.

The Rise of Makuu
Beshte the hippo takes his friends to the hippos' home in Big Springs, where he shows them how the fish in the lake clean his teeth. Beshte's father, a hippo named Basi, explains that it's a part of the Circle of Life. Beshte announces that he is now clean, and a pair of female hippos whistle at him. The crocodiles then arrive in the hopes of eating the fish in the lake, but Basi tells the crocodile leader Pua that there are not yet enough fish for the crocodile float, and invites him to return next week.

The hippos later are driven out of Big Springs by Makuu and the crocodiles and forced into the elephants' watering hole. After Kion orders Makuu to leave Big Springs, the hippos are able to return to their home.

The Kupatana Celebration
On the day of Kupatana, an angry hippo is seen glaring at a family of jackals who had most likely stolen from them at the end of the song Jackal Style.

Multiple hippos attend the Kupatana Celebration to celebrate Kupatana. Basi the hippo performs a song with Twiga and several other Pridelanders.

Fuli's New Family
Beshte invites his friend Fuli to swim with the hippos. When he accidentally knocks her in, another hippo lifts the disgruntled cheetah out of the water.

The Lion Guard
The hippopotamus Beshte appears in every episode of the show.

Notable Hippos

 * Basi
 * Beshte