In the video shared on Latest Sightings’ YouTube Channel, a group of hippos is seen attacking a lion and scaring it away. The rare footage was captured in the world-famous Kruger National Park in South Africa.
”This lion is relaxing on a rock in the middle of a river. Suddenly, hippos start surrounding him. The leader of the hippos then moves in to attack the lion with its jaws wide open. The lion has now answer to the aggressive move and escapes by leaping into the water. As the big cat is swimming away, it encounters another hippo lying submerged in the river but manages to get away.
Hippos are the third largest living land mammals, after elephants and white rhinos, according to the African Wildlife Foundation. Considered amphibious animals, hippos spend up to 16 hours per day in the water, according to National Geographic
Hippos are considered very dangerous. They have large teeth and tusks and can open their mouths as wide as 150 degrees when they move in to fight.
According to the BBC, the hippopotamus is the world’s deadliest large land mammal, killing an estimated 500 people per year in Africa.
Although hippos were long believed to be exclusively herbivorous, in a 2015 study published in the journal Mammal Review, scientists reported that hippos occasionally feed on the carcasses of animals, including other hippos.
