Animal that wades in cool Italian river (5)

I believe the answer is:

hippo

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'animal that wades' is the definition.
'hippo' can be an answer for 'animal' (I've seen this before). I'm unsure of the rest of the definition.

'cool italian river' is the wordplay.
'cool' becomes 'hip' (hip can mean cool or fashionable).
'italian river' becomes 'po' (river in Italy).
'hip'+'po'='HIPPO'

'in' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for hippo that I've seen before include "Aquatic pachyderm" , "large African creature" , "Great beast" , "One wallows in mud" , "Wallowing creature" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.

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