|
?:reviewBody
|
-
A common claim on many Unbelievable Fact lists is that the claim the hippopotamus is the only animal that produces naturally pink milk. Although this factoid has been circulating online for several years, it received a large bump in credibility when it was posted the Facebook by a National Geographic account on 26 July 2013: The hippopotamus, however, does not produce pink milk. This claim is based on the combination of two unrelated facts: But according to biologist David Wynick, there's no evidence suggesting that hippos secrete hippusudoric acid into their milk: Hippos produce white- or beige-colored milk similar to that of other mammals. While it's true that the exterior of a hippo could sometimes appear pinkish due to the animal's secretion of hippusudoric acid, this phenomenon does not produce pink milk: Social media posts claiming that hippos produce pink milk are often accompanied by a photograph purportedly showing this mythical product: This image, however, does not show five bottles of pink hippo milk. The photograph actually displays the product a dairy-free Strawberry milkshake recipe called Strawberry Unmilkshake that was originally posted by the web site Veggie Wedgie in 2010. National Geographic online may have perpetuated the rumor that hippos produce pink milk with a Facebook post in 2013, but the magazine's page on the hippopotamus and its fact sheet on National Geographic Kids make no mention of this debunked legend.
(en)
|
![[This page as RDF]](http://data.gesis.org/claimskg/static/rdf-icon.gif){kind=icon}