This is the unbelievable moment a baby hippo pushes its luck and harasses a crocodile minding its own business. This incredible sighting was observed in the Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe.
These two species rarely interact, but both may have to compete for the same food source from time to time as hippos are omnivores, whereas crocodiles are strictly carnivores. It has often been observed that crocodiles and hippos feed off the same carcass nearby water or even in the water. But they are not at all, what you would call friends.
58-Year old tour guide and photographer, Jan Hrbáček from WildPhoto was utterly fortunate to experience this rare interaction and shared the exciting story with LatestSightings.com:
“A large crocodile was basking in the sun on the bank of a waterhole. After a while, two hippos made their way out and approached the crocodile. One of the hippos started biting the crocodile’s tail. The crocodile seemed agitated, but did not retaliate immediately.”
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“He slowly retreated back to the water for safety, with one of the hippos short on his tail. The second hippo followed the chase, but thankfully the crocodile was able to escape these two instigators and disappeared. The hippos returned to their pod as if this had just been another normal day in the bush.”
“This was truly rare for me, as I had never witnessed an interaction between hippos and crocodiles – especially to this extent. One should never rush when observing animals and interactions in the wild. Wait patiently and most importantly – ALWAYS have your camera ready – you never know what may happen next.”
As always, we will never truly know what Mother Nature intends when such scenes unfold. However, it may be very possible that this was a cow and calf hippo. Where the calf was the cheeky one – knowing its mommy will have its back no matter the situation. When the mother decided that the little one had enough fun for the day, she must have called it back to safety. As the crocodile will have a way bigger advantage against the young hippo when in the water and the hippo cow may not have been able to save it then.