The biggest hippo ever recorded: a captive male at 4,500 kg

The Animal Diversity Web names a captive male hippo in Munich, Germany, as the largest hippo ever recorded. It weighed 4,500 kg. That is a record for one captive animal, not a typical weight.

Separately, the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Library fact sheet carries a caution about weights of 4,500 kg. It says other sources that put the top weight of hippos at 4,500 kg (9,900 lb) appear to cite Bere (1959), and perhaps other sources, though they may not be accurate.

Other published weights for hippos

The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance gives male hippo weight as 1,600 to 4,500 kilograms (3,500 to 9,920 pounds) and female weight as 1,400 kilograms (3,000 pounds) on average. The Library fact sheet reports that Kingdon (1979) gives a maximum weight of 3,200 kg (7,100 lb) for a male hippo and 2,344 kg (5,168 lb) for a female. The fact sheet also says that average, minimum and maximum weights may differ from one region or population to another.

How male and female hippos differ

At maturity, the Animal Diversity Web says, males tend to run about 200 kg larger than females. As males age, they can become almost several thousand kg larger than females. Females reach their maximum weight around age 25, the account adds, while males appear to keep growing throughout life.

Height, length and rank

The Animal Diversity Web gives about 505 cm as the maximum male length and says females usually only reach around 345 cm. The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance gives hippo length as 3.3 to 5 meters (10.8 to 16.5 feet) and height as up to 1.6 meters (5.2 feet) at the shoulder. National Geographic ranks hippos third-largest among land mammals, after elephants and white rhinos.