The answer a lot of people are looking for is, why are the larger animals like hippo, elephant and rhino vegetarian and not meat eaters?

Well to be able to sustain such a large body one needs a lot of food to be able to function and survive, so if one looks at it with this in mind it starts to make sense, because plants are much easier to get hold of and they are abundant anywhere.

If a hippo had to eat meat it would have had to hunt and this task is not one of the easiest in nature, even so for the mighty lion that specializes in hunting, it can become very difficult at stages.

A lion needs around an average of 6kg of meat per day. A hippo or elephant would then probably need around 80-100 kg to sustain their bulky size and would make them eat around 3-4 impala a day.

So need a lot of food… then you stick to what is easy to find and does not require a lot of work.

Armand Steyn

Ranger

Kapama Main Lodge