However sweet the baby hippos might have appeared to spectators, this large elephant wasn’t about to let them invade his territory.
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Elephants are the largest living land animals and these baby hippos weren’t about to take any chances.
A front row seat to witness nature’s majesty
Evan had been on a river cruise down the river when he filmed the incredible sighting. While the tranquil river cruise might have been uneventful at first, it soon became animated with live suspense and action.
Three pairs of eyes appeared from out of the water. They belonged to three baby hippos.
Evan described how there had been many hippos grazing along the river’s edge. The three baby hippos were yet to emerge from the waters.
Elephant appears at edge of water
This was when another creature came into view.
A large elephant approached the waters. It was coming to get a drink of water, and owing to its colossal size, presented a spectacular sighting.
The elephant was alone for a while. However, the trio of hippos soon appeared. They wobbled out of the water, lumpy and adorable – and extremely curious!
Baby hippos weigh between 25 to 45kg at birth, and grow by as much as 40kg in a single month! By the time they are a year old, they will weigh around 100 to 200kg. An adult hippo weighs around 1360kg to 3630kg.
This compared to an adult elephant bull which can weight as much as 5443kg!
With the baby hippos now standing before the mighty elephant, it was only a matter of time before the drama was taken up a notch.
The elephant flapped its ears and made all the intimidating gestures he could muster. For the three small hippos, he was a mountain of a creature.
Still, it was an unexpected move from the elephant which finally left the hippos scurrying. Anyone who doubts a hippo can move with speed, need only watch this video clip to see how fast hippos really can move out of the way.
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Sudden falling tree creates humorous moment
Stomping his way towards the hippos and grumpy as ever, the elephant pushed a tree out of the way and it fell with such suddenness and force, the hippos practically sprinted back into the water, as fast as their little legs could carry them – which turns out, was very fast!
They disappeared beneath the waves, leaving splashes and bubbles. The elephant bully had had his way!
“Apparently, this was rare even for the tour director/cruise driver, and it was the most unusual thing seen during our 14 day trip to South Africa,” said Evan.
With their big eyes, tiny ears, chubby cheeks and little legs, baby hippos are among the most adorable animals in the wild. Seeing three small ones out of the water was definitely a rare sighting.
“The tour director proposed that the hippos, since young, were learning about how to interact with elephants, and that the elephant was possibly just trying to cross the river,” said Evan.
However, he maintains his belief that this incredible moment, captured on film, was in fact a territorial standoff between the animals.
The falling tree added the suspense and action they had hoped to experience on the cruise and made it one they will never forget.