A rare video captured in Kruger National Park (South Africa) shows a lion encountering a hippopotamus, but in a scenario that few would expect.
At the beginning of the video, a hungry male lion seems to have easily found its prey when it spots a mother hippopotamus lying helplessly by the road, having been starved for several days and becoming exhausted.
However, just as the lion is about to feast on the poor creature, a baby hippopotamus suddenly appears.
The young hippo uses its body and feigns a bit of weakness to attract the predator. However, when the lion approaches, the hippo resolutely turns around to face it without hesitation. In the video, it can be seen that although the lion is fully grown and powerful, it appears hesitant and does not dare to attack the baby hippo.
The baby hippopotamus actively attracts the predator, but steadfastly refuses to fall.
In one segment, when the baby hippo turns to move, the lion lunges from behind, intending to knock the animal down. However, it quickly heads towards the mother hippo and turns back as if to challenge her.
After a few seconds of hesitation, the male lion decides to abandon the “game” and retreats peacefully. Thus, the mother and baby hippos miraculously survive thanks to the courage and decisiveness of the young hippo.
However, according to the caption from the person who recorded the video, the two hippos could not escape death about two days later due to a lack of food. This is the harsh fate from a natural predator that they could not escape.
Despite their fierce nature, which sometimes leads them to attack their own kind, the maternal instinct in hippos is incredibly remarkable.
Hippopotamuses are mammals that primarily eat grass. They are among the largest land mammals and the heaviest even-toed ungulates, though much shorter than giraffes.
Their preferred habitat is half in water and half on land. They typically reside in rivers, lakes, and mangrove swamps in West Africa, where males dominate a stretch of river and lead a group of 5 to 30 females and young.
Despite their somewhat bulky and slow appearance, hippos are particularly agile and dangerous. They are considered one of the most aggressive creatures in the world.
This may be why even an adult male lion does not dare to face a hippo directly and always has the instinct to flee.
Nevertheless, hippos are significantly declining in population due to prolonged drought conditions, which leave rivers without enough water or a shortage of vegetation – their primary food source.
Additionally, older and weaker hippos often become victims, excluded from the community due to their inability to compete for standing with larger, stronger males.
