Phylis Stephenson, age 10, of Cedartown, Ga., for her question:

Is the hippo as big as the elephant?

The elephant is the largest of all the land animals. In size and weight he is surpassed only by.: the whale who lives in the sea. In one respect, however, the elephant is surpassed by the hippo. Mr. Hippo has the largest mouth of any land animal. Here again, the sea going whale can do even better. For the big blue baleen whale has a mouth even larger than the hippos.

A full grown bull elephant may stand 13 feet tall at shoulder level. This biggest of all land animals tips the scales at six tons. The biggest hippo weighs only four tons. At shoulder level he is about four and one half feet tall, a fifth grader can look over the top of him. From nose to tail, the hippo is about 12 feet long.

So, it seems, the elephant is a bigger and a heavier animal than the hippo ‑ except when it comes to the mouth. The hippo’s mouth is surpassed only by the mouth of the big whale.