In this unforgettable sighting filmed by Megan Pearson in the Kruger National Park, it took just one hippo to cause an entire pride of lions to scatter.
Lionesses gather to drink water
The pride, mostly lionesses, had gathered around the water’s edge for a drink of water. They stayed on guard as in the waters nearby was a pod of hippos.
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Three of the hippos could be seen standing in the shallow waters. Among them was a hippo calf.
While the lions appeared to be minding their own business, one of the hippos was particularly aggressive. Hippos are highly territorial animals and the pride was too close to the water’s edge for this hippos liking. They were also close to the young hippo, which is one of the reasons hippos will attack.
Hippo approaches pride of lions
The hippo started to walk slowly towards the lions, holding their full attention. This was a particularly large pride of lions, consisting of 15 members.
They watched the hippo as it waded slowly towards them.
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Hippo picks up pace and charges
The hippo soon picked up pace and began to charge towards the pride of lions. It barreled towards them, in a display of dominance and aggression.
The lions, which had been lounging by the water’s edge, were up in a flash. This was an angry hippo!
They ran up the banks, while still keeping an eye on the hippo.
The hippo didn’t stop at the water’s edge. It continued to walk up the sandy banks with frightening pace.
The lions kept a wide berth. While there was just one hippo and 15 of them, taking on an aggressive hippo would have been risky business.
Lionesses generally do not challenge adult hippos unless under exceptional circumstances. This is because adult hippos are among the most dangerous and powerful animals in Africa. They can weigh over 1 500kg, have massive tusk-like canines, and are highly aggressive when threatened.
While lions are apex predators, they tend to avoid direct confrontations with healthy adult hippos.
The hippo now stood on the sandy shores, quite a distance from the water, and held its ground.
It made it clear to the lions that while the species might be the King of the Jungle, they didn’t rule the waterholes.
The lions had hoped to get some peaceful drinking time in, however, they would have to wait until a more opportune time to drink. There weren’t prepared to challenge this determined hippo.
Even on land hippos can put up quite a fight. A full-grown hippo can run at speeds of up to 30 km/h over short distances on land. This is faster than most humans!
A large pride of 15 lions can coordinate well to take on large prey. However, a healthy adult hippo is not easy prey. Even though it was 15 to 1 in this confrontation, the strength of the hippo could have seriously killed or injured one of the lions.