Nature isn’t always pretty. Many animals must hunt for their food to survive.
A baby antelope faced a dangerous situation when he found himself facing off with a pack of hyenas.
The hyenas tried to catch the antelope. It didn’t look like this baby antelope was going to survive the attack. Until something amazing happened, that is.
All of a sudden, a large hippo arrived on the scene. He charged at the hyenas attacking the antelope to try and scare them.
The large hippo successfully scared away the hyenas. They scattered away from the baby antelope. The antelope ran into the mud.
The antelope faced yet another scary situation. He was now stuck in the mud that he had just ran into.
Hippos walked away uninterested. The dogs, still standing on the banks, weren’t ready to give up.
Now that the hippo was leaving, two more dogs from the opposite side of the bank attacked the poor antelope. They tried to drag him from the mud, biting and tearing into him.
The hippo noticed the dogs and snapped at them quickly. They ran away, afraid for their lives.
More hyenas arrived at the scene. The hyenas tried one more time to catch the baby antelope even though the hippo was just a few feet away.
Sadly, the hippo decided that the antelope belonged to him and snapped down on the baby.
Now uninterested in the dead antelope, the hippo left the carcass for the hyenas to pick on.
Mirror posted a set of photos of the confrontation with two predators of antelope on July 29. The series of photos was taken by 43-year-old professional photographer Hannes Lochner in July last year at the Khwai River, Okavango Delta, Botswana.
The antelope dived into the river to hide from the hyenas that were clinging to their heels without knowing that a pair of hippos was hiding and observing in the riverbed.
Photographer Hannes took these pictures after witnessing a herd of antelope being chased by a pack of wild dogs.
“Avoid the melon pods and the coconut shells,” it hastily swam away from the two ferocious predators.
This antelope was not the only victim because about an hour earlier, one of its unfortunate companions also ran into the river and was drowned by the hippopotamus. Another antelope was eaten by a crocodile, while the rest managed to escape.
Thought the antelope would lose its life, however, something extraordinary happened. Hannes said the antelope escaped successfully and made it to shore. “After the fight, the antelope escaped despite being bitten on the leg,” he said.