This croc was lucky to escape with its life!
Two of Africa's most dangerous animals are the crocodile and the hippopotamus, both for different reasons. The Nile crocodile is a ferocious predator with jaws that deliver an incredible amount of bite force. Antelopes, impalas, wildebeest, zebras and other land animals are in danger every time they go to take a drink where these animals might be laying in wait to ambush.
The hippo on the other hand, is a large herbivore with a bad attitude problem. Their huge tusks can easily kill other animals that they feel have invaded their territory. And they don't discriminate on the types of animals they perceive to be a threat.
Case in point, this incredible piece of video from Serengeti in Tanzania. There is a rather large crocodile here that has made a really bad decision. He has wandered into a waterhole. There's just one problem. There are 50 or more hippos already hanging out here, and they are NOT happy to see him. The entire incredible sighting was captured on video by some tourists and shared by National Geographic.
The most amazing part of this footage is the fact that the crocodile managed to escape this situation. Put any other animal in there and their fate is certain death. Give it up for the crocodile being one of the toughest animals on earth! For most animals, it would only take one hippo bite to end their lives permanently with those big tusks. As the video notes, that's just the territorial attitude of the hippo you're seeing here. This behavior is only intensified when a baby hippo is present to protect.
It is not often something attacks a large carnivore like a crocodile. However, in the case of hippo vs crocodile, the hippo has the size and power advantage every time. When it's one croc vs dozens of adult hippos, you have one of the most unfair matchups in the animal kingdom. Along with hippos, elephants and rhinos are some of the only animals that could push a croc around like this and live to tell the tale.
In Africa, it is either kill or be killed for many predators and prey. We have seen some truly amazing videos come from the Dark Continent's National Parks in recent years of every day life-or-death struggles like this. It was not too long ago we saw a crocodile make a meal out of one of the fastest wild animals on earth, the cheetah. It is not uncommon to watch wild dogs, leopards, hyenas, lions, and pythons all fight over food items. While these scenes are amazing for us to watch, this is simply another day in the life of Africa's wild animals.
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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