A hippo thought it was safe from predators when it chose to live in a waterhole at a lodge. Things changed when two big male lions found it wandering alone in the parking lot.
Henrietta Banda, had the sighting at Ila Safari Lodge, and shared this incredible wildlife interaction and shared it with Latest Sightings.
“It was a sad evening. We all grew to know and love this hippo over the years. We had even given him a name, Henry.”
Henry the hippo, along with a bigger bull, had claimed the resident waterhole as their home. It’s very rare to see large predators on the grounds of developed lodges, and maybe that’s what attracted them to the location. Although, this may have been a false sense of security…
Hippos have very sensitive skin and spend the heat of the day in the water to protect themselves from the hot African sun. They come out at sunset to graze throughout the evening. This helps them avoid nasty burns, but it also coincides with the time when lions are most active.
Generally, full-grown hippos are safe from most lurking predators, but lions are different. Henry the hippo found that out the hard way!
It was early in the evening, and the hippo didn’t even make it out of the lodge’s parking area when he bumped into two male lions on the hunt. The sudden chaos broke the peaceful sounds of a typical night at the camp.
There was no mistaking it, something was being hunted and it was close! They didn’t have to travel far to reach the scene, and that’s when they saw it. One of their beloved resident hippos was being attacked by massive lions!
The lions were quick at work, tearing at the hippo’s belly. Hippos have extremely tough skin, making it difficult for even lions to break through, so their tactics were simple: bring the hippo down and go for its tummy, because that’s the softest part.
It was a hard watch for everyone in the vehicle. This is how the natural world works, but they had grown accustomed to Henry the hippo. Hope was not all lost though; one of the other resident hippos, a bigger bull, came to investigate too.
The larger hippo’s presence definitely made the lions feel nervous. But, even more amazingly, it gave Henry the motivation to try and escape. He got up, almost from the dead, and somehow, slowly managed to drag himself back toward the waterhole.
Henry was in a dire state, but he was persistent. Not able to walk, he crawled, trying to get some distance between himself and the lions. His friend followed closely. At one point, Henry the hippo collapsed, and it almost looked as if his friend climbed on top of him to give him a hug. 🥺
The lions realized that Henry’s bigger friend was not going to leave his side, and they moved on to look for their next victim. The wildlife authorities were alerted to the situation, and sadly, Henry the hippo passed away during transportation the next day.