Why Hippos Are Horrific | Lindsay Nikole
Hippos can’t swim, sweat a red sunscreen, open their jaws to 150°, and spray dung in each other’s faces. Meet the world’s most heinous mammal, from its pig-like ancestors to the Moo Deng craze, and learn why it’s quietly being hunted toward extinction.
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#LindsayNikole #hippos #hippo #pabloescobartour #cocainehippos
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ABOUT LINDSAY NIKOLE
Join zoologist Lindsay Nikole for vivid stories about evolution, animal behavior, and the wonderfully weird life around (and before) us. Each video dives into creatures you’ve never met and facts you’ll never forget, blending science with humor, visuals, and memorable explanations. From viral mystery IDs and prehistoric deep dives to myth-busting and conservation context, this channel makes complex biology easy and exciting to understand.
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Chapters
00:00 Pablo Escobar’s Hippos Take Over Colombia
02:12 Two Species of Hippo “River vs Pygmy”
05:31 Hippos Don’t Swim The Sinking Gallop
06:27 “Anthracotheres” The Ancestors of Hippos
08:11 “Prehistoric Hippos” From Gorgops to Hexaprotodon
10:18 What Makes Hippos So Heinous “Blood Sweat” and Giant Jaws
11:47 Why Hippos Are So Aggressive
13:19 Bull Hippo Territory Wars and Tusk Sparring
15:07 The Dung Tornado Explained
16:36 “Moo Deng” and Famous Hippos in History
17:56 “Taweret” The Hippo Goddess of Ancient Egypt
18:31 Hippos as Ecosystem Engineers
20:36 Hippo Highways in the Okavango Delta
21:44 Hippo Conflict, Poaching and the Ivory Trade
Why Hippos Are Horrific | Lindsay Nikole
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrc2iv2-G1FZ3VscM3zu2jg
@LindsayNikole
October 19, 2026 at 3:29 pm
Want to restore the planet's ecosystems and see your impact in monthly videos? The first 100 people to join Planet Wild with my code LINDSAY210 will get the first month paid for by me: https://planetwild.com/r/lindsaynikole/join/210
If you want to get to know them better first, check out their mission fighting ocean plastic: https://planetwild.com/r/lindsaynikole/m34/210
@AK-jt7kh
October 19, 2026 at 3:29 pm
I love that I have this educational content to listen to while I clean & do chores. It helps me stay focused!
@CheeseFries44
October 19, 2026 at 3:29 pm
18:51 No, I know long they get and you mentioning this gave me flashbacks of learning about them. 😂 heinous
@WalterWhiterH2O
October 19, 2026 at 3:29 pm
DO THE TAPE WORM VIDEOOOO
@delreypimp
October 19, 2026 at 3:29 pm
This made me realize I curse way too much and need ro stop because it's quite actually annoying and I'm fairly old.
@Marialovesmango
October 19, 2026 at 3:29 pm
As a colombian, yes, hippos are a HUGE problem, they've destroyed ecosystems, they are the locals worst nightmare and impossible to get rid of, it's too expensive to neuter them, and too controversial to k1ll them, thanks to inbreeding they also face a lot of genetic issues, they are cute, yes, but they do not belong here. There was this billionaire willing to buy them and ship them to Asia to a reserve, but that hasn't happened yet
@DasNewsNetwork
October 19, 2026 at 3:29 pm
14:24 grunting, wheezing, etc… sounds like my ex wife.
@DasNewsNetwork
October 19, 2026 at 3:29 pm
It weighs as much as a large SUV only it has a bad attitude. It’s like a pissed off ford excursion.
@imaginethat_neathuh1993
October 19, 2026 at 3:29 pm
Nah. If they're invasive, cull them. Sometimes, the population is too large to do much else.
@maika2449
October 19, 2026 at 3:29 pm
Is swearing necessary? Can't you get the message across without using the swear words? What do they add to this educational content?
@calichick097
October 19, 2026 at 3:29 pm
Revenge killing an animal population is wild. Like… they are animals… they don’t know who you are…
@Handles_Are_Bad.Phuk-them-off
October 19, 2026 at 3:29 pm
18:55 HELL YEAH DO A TAPEWORLS VIDOE. IM SO HERE FOR THAT!
@genem2768
October 19, 2026 at 3:29 pm
The scariest takeaway from this is that male hippos can kill male hippos "bare handed."
@ragasaurus-rex312
October 19, 2026 at 3:29 pm
Love your content as always! 🥳🩵🙌 But please stop calling any and all animals "heinous" so often and frequently, and kindly present these animals as peacefully and neutrally as possible. I do understand and respect the differing opinions and feelings of people on other life forms. But, All Life deserves a bare-minimum level of respect, no matter what. ✌🤍
@KkawaiiPotato
October 19, 2026 at 3:29 pm
Awesome I'm the same height as Lindsay Nikole!
@jaded_gerManic
October 19, 2026 at 3:29 pm
"… so they can continue to be heinous in peace."
😆🤙
@duck8dodgers
October 19, 2026 at 3:29 pm
I'm guessing her spooky video will be about cryptids.
@lavona8204
October 19, 2026 at 3:29 pm
Okay so whales and hippos are related.. imagine ancient whale ancestors.. a lot of early whale species were toothed.. what if there were carnivorous salt water hippo type creatures?
@ara7450
October 19, 2026 at 3:29 pm
19:03 can confidently say I will NOT be watching this video thanks
@mr_0n10n5
October 19, 2026 at 3:29 pm
There's a reason Baki characters don't fight hippos
@leaguemastergg3647
October 19, 2026 at 3:29 pm
2:36 MOO DANG!!!
@jamesonrichards5105
October 19, 2026 at 3:29 pm
I just call them Americans! 🦅 🇺🇸
@Atomchild
October 19, 2026 at 3:29 pm
Are hippos aggressive because they lost their marbles, or are they just hungry hungry?
@Imurai
October 19, 2026 at 3:29 pm
Lindsay is the weirdest zoologist.
"reasons I hate this animal"
@aphoridite33
October 19, 2026 at 3:29 pm
Have you ever wondered why so few bones of Toumas' bones were ever found?
Could it be that he accidentally wandered into a group of Amazonian women and was initiated into the first snu snu event, that we know of, where all of his bones were pulverized and leaving his skull flattened?
This is where his exceptional pain tolerance and ability to carry the weight equivalent to what ten strong men could carry made the Amazonions believe he was still okay?
Thus creating a resuscitation of the NO BONE ZONE protocol so that evolution could continue?
✌️❤️
@jpbaley2016
October 19, 2026 at 3:29 pm
So what you’re saying is that whales are hippos that learned to swim.
@P4t4t0guy
October 19, 2026 at 3:29 pm
3:40 Why would you tell us that, no one wants to know that.
Why would you do that.
@awaissakram
October 19, 2026 at 3:29 pm
Bro wat is in your pocket?
@GallowsBound1
October 19, 2026 at 3:29 pm
No offense Lindsay, but sleeping next to a river of hippos sounds like it belongs on 1000 Ways to Die.
@muditatrey6295
October 19, 2026 at 3:29 pm
Please please please do a tapeworm video
@caitx102
October 19, 2026 at 3:29 pm
Edinburgh zoo in Scotland recently had a pygmy hippo calf called ‘haggis’
@TheGPRx3
October 19, 2026 at 3:29 pm
Thought you were cool Lindsay until the casual racist joke about the stereotypical British teeth. Shame, from someone who usually seems smart and caring.
Disappointed.
@poopandpiss
October 19, 2026 at 3:29 pm
Ok I love animals but I hate people who opposed these culls. Culling invasive species is so important for preserving native species, it'd do so much more damage to let the invasive animals stay
@slayerat5280
October 19, 2026 at 3:29 pm
Can't wait for the horror of the tapeworm video this Halloween.
@sillyjellyfish2421
October 19, 2026 at 3:29 pm
Hell yeah to the tapeworm video btw
@Billy01113
October 19, 2026 at 3:29 pm
Boah the Brtis teeth joke was vicious…… but extremly funny, too!!!!
@johnathanfindlay9112
October 19, 2026 at 3:29 pm
15:26 “Dung Tornado”? Seems like a good opportunity to call it a sh*t storm. For example:
Person 1: Hey, good to see you! How has your day been going.
Person 2: last time I was caught in this big of a sh*t storm I was seeing the hippos at the zoo and one decided to sh*t on us.
@jackryan444
October 19, 2026 at 3:29 pm
I love AC origins, and also hunt myself… I never felt right hunting hippos when those missions came up… 1) cause, why, I didn’t ask to slide into their territory, and 2) oh god… fighting 5 grown male hippos sounds like a very long chore, at best…
@JulesEAbril-wl7es
October 19, 2026 at 3:29 pm
colombian here. pablo really is undefeated in how often something bad in colombia today is directed his fault. man's like our ronald reagan.
@chrislee3414
October 19, 2026 at 3:29 pm
15:13 the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans used to have a hippo. I remember as a kid seeing the shit hit the tail-fan.
@otmgi3865
October 19, 2026 at 3:29 pm
0:54 Hippo = Pachyderm = Murder Cow
@Cai_man666
October 19, 2026 at 3:29 pm
Well Actually Adult Hippos do have natural predators. Huge Lion packs and Large Nile Crocodiles take out adult hippos quite often actually. Plus if i remember right. giant packs of Hyenas can take out adult hippos.
@jackryan444
October 19, 2026 at 3:29 pm
On one hand… we probably should cull them… on the other hand… idk if we should get in the way of evolution more than we already had.
We should have culled them when there was 4, not a native population established already. Granted don’t question my logic, cause I think zebra mussels need to go entirely in this hemisphere…
@BugEyedFairy
October 19, 2026 at 3:29 pm
We yearn for a video about tapeworms, please
Also this video has given me an unhealthy dose of anxiety at 8 to 9 in the morning despite living in a place where the closest hippos are probably a good few hours of flight away, so thank you
@Iamthatis137
October 19, 2026 at 3:29 pm
💗💗💗
@T.L.Valkama
October 19, 2026 at 3:29 pm
I love that you give so much info, not just about the animal as such but also why it's important to protect these creatures, all while being entertaining.
@_nate_young_6264
October 19, 2026 at 3:29 pm
BUT BANANA BREAD AT WORK TODAY BRO!!!!! HELL YEAH !! HELL YEAH 13:38