296 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1923 



confined to Africa. In addition to the several geographic races of 

 the common species {Hippopotamus amphibius), a smaller kind, the 

 pigmy hippo, is known. This latter is confined to western Africa 

 and is very rare in collections. Hippos are essentially aquatic ani- 

 mals and swim with ease. It is said that they remain beneath the 

 surface of the water for so long a time as 10 minutes. On several 

 occasions the introduction of the hippopotamus into the rivers and 

 lakes of the southern United States has been advocated with the 

 expectation that the animal would successfully rid the waters of 

 the congested aquatic vegetation. In view of the serious depredations 

 upon planters' crops which might well be expected, the advisability 

 of such an experiment is questionable. 



Of the hippos living in the park, the female and older animal 

 was obtained from British East Africa in 1911. She was then 

 about 2 years old and weighed 800 pounds. She has grown greatly 

 since her arrival and now weighs about 5,000 pounds. She is gentle 

 and loves attention from her keepers. The male hippo came from 

 German East Africa in 1914 and is a much less perfectly tempered 

 animal. He is active and remarkably agile for a beast of his great 

 bulk and can turn and charge with great speed. Three young have 

 been successfully reared from this pair. At birth they weigh 

 about 45 pounds and are expert swimmers. The hippos are quartered 

 in the lion house, where they have access in summer to large out- 

 door yards and a tank. In winter they are furnished with heated 

 water for their bath and frequently cause great commotion by their 

 vigorous splashing. 



THE WILD SWINE 



The wild boar of Europe (Sus scrofa) typifies the family of 

 swine. It is presumably the ancestral form of the domestic races. 

 A fine example is shown in a yard near the elephant house. The 

 wart hog of Africa (Phacochwrus wthiopicus) is famous for his 

 ugly appearance and huge tusks. 



The American representatives of the pig family, the peccaries, 

 are found wild from Texas southward over much of Middle and 

 South America. Two general types are distinguished, the white- 

 lipped and the collared peccaries. The latter ranges farther to the 

 north than the larger white-lipped group and was formerly common 

 in the United States along the Mexican border. Although peccaries 

 are doubtless at times, especially when roving in large packs, dan- 

 gerous beasts to encounter, the stories told of their ferocity are often 

 greatly exaggerated. The collared peccary of Texas (Pecari angula- 

 tus) has frequently bred in the National Zoological Park. 



