Flight of fancy: Analysis of hippos’ run reveals they can fly…briefly

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) — A recent study from London has come to a conclusion that you might believe, well, when pigs fly:

Hippos can fly.

Now, before you go and add flak cannons to your home in case Fiona and Fritz down in Cincinnati decide to strafe you, keep in mind that their “flight time” is limited to a fraction of second.

Researchers with the Royal Veterinary College discovered that the hippos they studied at the Flamingo Land zoo use a horse-like trot to run, and not a speedy version of the normal walk.

The researches determined that when the hippos are between trots — when all four feet are in the air — they are airborne for as long as 0.3 seconds.

“We were pleasantly surprised to see how hippos get airborne when they move quickly – it’s really impressive,” said study leader Professor John Hutchinson.

Hutchinson attributed humans learning this about hippos to the animals’ tendency to remain in water.

“They’re also very dangerous,” he said. “That’s part of the reason why science knew little about how hippos move before our research.”

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