In the inland waters of Africa, an uneasy truce exists between hippos and crocodiles. While they share an aquatic environment, one is a carnivore, and the other is a herbivore. Well, most of the time.
On occasion, hippos will eat meat. And it was just such an incident that Johan Van Zyl filmed while visiting Kenya’s Masai Mara National Reserve. He kindly shared his footage with Latest Sightings.
Watch the video here:
Unlikely dinner companions
As Johan’s video starts, we encounter an unusual sight. A pair of hippos and a lone crocodile. Nearby, a dead zebra lies partially submerged.
Giving context, Johan said, “We were watching a crocodile feeding on a zebra carcass when two big hippo approached the carcass.”
The croc’s head is under the water, presumably tearing at the zebra’s flesh. Unusually, the larger hippo, presumably the mother of the second hippo, also appears to be chewing on the zebra. Meanwhile, the smaller hippo seems most interested in the crocodile.
Surprising behaviour
After nudging the croc with its muzzle for a while, the younger hippo then did something quite unexpected. First, it aggressively shoved the croc near its hind leg.
Instant reaction
Stranger still, it then appears to have bitten the croc. As you’d expect, the croc instantly reacted, raising its head out the water in alarm.
Whether or not the croc was injured or just surprised, it clearly was not impressed. After all, a herbivore does not attack a predator every day.
Consequently, it quickly moved off, not wanting to try its luck with the “hangry” hippo. Meanwhile, the other hippo continued gnawing at the zebra carcass.
Researchers think that hippos may eat meat to compensate for a mineral deficiency. Droughts typically trigger this behaviour, as plants become less nutritious.
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Second croc arrives
Subsequently, a second crocodile arrived on the scene. As it did, the two hippos kept a close eye on it.
Then, when it too moved in to feed, the smaller hippo once again took exception to its presence. With the croc preoccupied, the hippo moved in behind it.
Perhaps having seen what happened to its predecessor, the croc started moving off the moment it felt the hippo nudge against its tail.
However, the hippo seemed intent on repeating its earlier behaviour. Even as the crocodile was moving off, the hippo opened its jaws and prepared to teach the croc a lesson it wouldn’t soon forget.
Luckily for the croc, the hippo was too slow and it managed to escape without being bitten. In case you’re wondering, hippos are equipped with the largest canines and the strongest bite force of any mammal.
They are well capable of severely injuring or killing even a large crocodile with a bite force of 8,130 Newtons per square inch.
Now, where was I?
Having dealt with the two crocodiles, the hippo had the carcass all to itself. For the remainder of the video we see it gnawing at the floating remains.
Having had its fun with the crocs, it seems the hippo had built up quite an appetite.