Animals in the Wild [121 



a ton in a single day! but they relish sweet fruits and other 

 dainties. In the zoo they are fed mostly on hay and grain.) 



Besides drilling some elephants for circus performance, the 

 natives of India train others for use in hunting and for carrying 

 heavy materials an important consideration in a land lacking 

 machinery. In ancient days elephants played an impressive role 

 in warfare as forerunners of the modern giant tank. The most 

 famous instance of their military use was in Hannibal's great 

 victory over the Romans at Cannae after he had brought these 

 huge creatures across a pass over the Alps. In time elephants fell 

 out of military favor because they were too easily terrified by the 

 noise and violence of battle. 



Elephants have always excited a great deal of interest and many 

 curious beliefs have grown up about them. One of these is that 

 elephants are afraid of mice! There seems to be no scientific evi- 

 dence for this notion. Another fallacious idea is that elephants live 

 a century or more. Scientists believe that the life span of these 

 giant mammals is about the same as that of human beings from 

 sixty to eighty years. 



HIPPOS "RrvER HORSES" 



Next in size to the elephant is the grotesque African 

 hippopotamus, which may achieve a weight of four tons or more! 

 It is perhaps this creature's very ugliness that makes it appealing 

 to children. Though the hippo performs no stunts, they watch it 

 with absorbed interest. 



The Hippo in the Water: The hippopotamus spends a great deal 

 of time in the water, which must always be provided in its en- 

 closure. In the wild state the hippo seeks out the calm waters of a 

 tropical river where it browses on water plants as it swims or 

 floats. (The name hippopotamus means "river horse.") When 

 frightened, a hippo takes to flight by sinking to the river bot- 

 tom, where it can walk easily and quickly. Ten minutes is about 

 the longest it can stay under water, and when it comes to the 

 surface it usually spouts a column of air from its nostrils. 



A mother hippo often rides her baby on her back in the water, 

 and the young one clings there even when they go below the 



