Who's Who in the World of Hippos
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As I was conducting my research for this web site, I noticed that certain names seemed to pop up again and again. It soon became obvious to me that I needed to include a page devoted to those people who, in one way or another, are devoted to the hippopotamus (sort of a "Hippo Hall of Fame"). Here, then, is my Hippo Who's Who:
William Barklow
Biology Professor, Framingham State College, Massachusetts
Barklow has been studying the hippo's unique communication system for almost eight years and has made some intriguing discoveries. (Check out the article on his work in the March 1996 issue of Smithsonian.) Before that, he spent several years in Maine studying the calls of the loon.
Sandra Boynton
Author and Illustrator
Boynton is best know for her greeting cards featuring whimsical cartoon animals. Certain creatures appear repeatedly in her work, but the one that shows up most often is an endearing blue-gray hippo who seems to have a passion for chocolate. Boynton has also moved into the field of children's books with such stories as But Not the Hippopotamus and Hippos Go Berserk!
To see an on-line article about Boynton and her work, click here.
But Not the Hippopotamus (1982) |
Hippos Go Berserk! (1996) |
Keith Eltringham
Zoology Dept., Cambridge University, Massachusetts
Eltringham is the Chairman of the Hippo Specialist Group of the IUCN-World Conservation Union. In the early 1990s he conducted a detailed survey to determine the world's hippo population. His conclusion: worldwide, there are 157,000 hippos living in the wild.
Hans Klingel
Zoology Professor, University of Braunschweig, Germany
Klingel has been studying wildlife firsthand for almost four decades and is recognized as one of the world's leading authorities on hippo behavior. For a good introduction to his work, see his cover story in the September/October 1991 issue of International Wildlife. In addition to studying hippos, Klingel has made detailed studies of centipedes, whip spiders, whip scorpions, and Grevy's zebra.
Stephen Krueger
Zookeeper, Toledo Zoo, Ohio
Krueger has worked with hippos since 1982 and has been researching various aspects of underwater hippo communication and biology since 1994. His research utilizes The Toledo Zoo's 360,000 gallon Hippoquarium, the world's first underwater viewing, filtered water, natural exhibit. He recently developed a hippo skin tissue biopsy dart and spent the summer in South Africa collecting skin tissue samples from free-ranging hippos for a population genetics study. He is currently investigating the possibility of hippos' using echolocation underwater.
James Marshall
Author and Illustrator
Marshall was the creator of a delightful series of children's books featuring a pair of loveable hippos named George and Martha. The fact that his protagonists are hippos is incidental to Marshall's work, however; the main theme of his stories is the importance of friendship. Marshall wrote seven George and Martha books before his death in 1992. Recently, all seven stories were published as a single volume entitled George and Martha: The Complete Stories of Two Best Friends.
George and Martha (1972)
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George and Martha Encore (1973)
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Mike Thaler
Author
What John Irving is to bears, Mike Thaler is to hippos. Hippos seem to show up again and again in his work. Among his titles are What Could a Hippopotamus Be?, Hippo Lemonade, and There's a Hippopotamus Under My Bed.
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Revised January 19, 1998
URL: http://members.aol.com/HippoPage/whos_who.htm
