| On 7 years ago

VIDEO: Angry hippo attacks car

By Jonothan Hen-Boisen

Video courtesy of Kruger National Park’s YouTube channel, and later posted on Lowvelder, shows a hippo quickly becoming agitated when two tourists on safari in South Africa’s Kruger National Park positioned themselves for a better photograph (hippos are rarely seen this close outside of the water).

The hippo is then seen charging at their car.

Hippos are remarkably fast and, with powerful jaws, can easily open up a car’s protective metal “like a can of beans”.

In times of drought, hippos can become quite stressed and, as a result, becomes more aggressive, Lowvelder explains.

Hippos often leave the safety of the water when food is scarce and they then feed far from the relative safety of the water. They will attack anything standing in their way to the safety of the water, which is either a river or a dam.

The tourists stayed calm under this extraordinary circumstance (maybe just one hysterical giggle) and got the sighting of a lifetime. Lucky escape for the tourists.

Caxton News Service

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