Even a cranky hippo is no match for an elephant.
The hippopotamus is considered by many to be Africa's crankiest animal. These aquatic mammals are fiercely territorial of the water and mud holes they call home. They will not hesitate to attack and kill any animals that enter it. We've seen them bully impalas, lions, even crocodiles into submission. That is, if they don't outright kill them.
As angry and as tough as they are, there is one animal that will make a bunch of hippos stand aside and that's an elephant. As you'll see displayed in today's video.
In this footage shot in Tanzania, a huge bull elephant is standing on the shoreline of a pool full of hippos when the elephant decides to do something that would be suicidal to most animals. He wades straight across the pool to get to this next meal. Watch as all the hippos scurry away like cockroaches when the kitchen light is flicked on.
Make no mistake about it, the hippos knew who was boss around here. Keep in mind that an adult hippo can weigh almost one and a half tons, or between 2,800 and 3,000 pounds and can be anywhere from 10 to 16 feet long. That's a massive animal. It's hard to imagine the scale unless you see one in person.
As big and as mean as they are, even the hippo knows they stand no chance against an elephant, which can reach over 20 feet in length and weigh six to eight tons, or approximately 13,000 pounds. They're the largest land animal on earth for a reason! It isn't until you watch a video like this that one realizes the true size discrepancy between these two iconic animals.
Honestly, if we were an elephant, we'd want to do the same thing. Just because we could. Chalk it up as another incredible encounter in Africa and another reminder of why the dark continent is on our bucket list of destination spots someday.
For more outdoor content from Travis Smola, be sure to follow him on Twitter and check out his Geocaching and Outdoors with Travis YouTube channels.
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