Marelise sent this upsetting video to Latest Sightings. She filmed the incident at Nsemani Dam, south of Satara Camp in the Kruger National Park, South Africa.
Watch The Sighting
A Lion Looks On
As Marelise’s video starts, we see a young male lion looking over a water hole. At first, it is not evident what it is doing there.
However, her camera then focuses on a young impala ram in the water. It would seem, therefore, that the lion chased it into the water.
Perhaps waiting for the impala to leave the water, the lion settles down to wait. Unsurprisingly, with the predator nearby, the impala stays where it is.
Only when the impala moves do we realise that it is seemingly stuck in the thick mud of the dwindling water hole.
Help From A Hippo?
A short while later, a hippo and its calf enter the picture. While the impala remains motionless, it seems the hippo doesn’t notice it.
However, when the antelope moves slightly, the hippo turns to investigate. For a while, the hippo simply watches the helpless impala.
Meanwhile, sensing an opportunity, the lion circles around the water hole, hoping to intercept the impala on the other side.
Hippo Horror
The hippo then moved closer to the impala, and Marelise and her companion wondered aloud whether the hippo was there to help.
Unfortunately, that is not the case. Instead, the hippo lunges at the impala, almost pushing it below the surface.
Attack Intensifies
Then, when the impala struggles to escape, the hippo escalates its attack. Opening its cavernous mouth, it seizes the impala’s head and violently shakes the struggling antelope.
Showing its massive strength, it flings the impala in the air before dropping it into the cloying mud. Landing, the impala all but disappears from view.
Change Of Heart?
Next, the hippo shoves the partially submerged impala with its snout. Seeing this, Marelise wonders whether the hippo is trying to rescue the antelope.
Sadly, this is not the case. Moments later, the hippo again seizes the impala and thrashes it about in its jaws.
Upside Down
After several seconds, the hippo releases the impala. Only now, the impala has landed on its back.
Likely seriously injured by now, the poor antelope sinks into the mud, with only its legs showing above the surface.
Any hopes that the impala’s suffering is over are soon dashed, as it flails its legs in the air. Finally, its kicking weakens before stopping altogether.
Starved of air, the impala’s legs finally buckle into the mud. For its part, the hippo watches with cold detachment.
Get our Best Sightings as they Come in
Luckless Lion
As for the lion, still waiting on the shore, its wait has been in vain. Not eager to enter the water with the hippo present, all it can do is ponder the one that got away.
How Come, Hippo?
The hippo’s behaviour might come as a surprise, considering it is a herbivore. However, two factors clue us in as to why it behaved the way it did.
Firstly, hippos are extremely territorial, particularly when water holes are drying out, as is the case here.
Secondly, she was taking no chances in protecting her calf from the unwelcome, albeit harmless, intruder.
Despite their comical appearance, hippos are extremely dangerous animals equipped with massive canines, the strongest bite force of any land mammal, and a tendency to attack with minimal provocation.
They also eat meat on occasion. However, whether that happened during this sighting is unknown.