Hippo To The Rescue

Hippos kill more people in Africa than any other large animal.

They are very dangerous and can be extremely aggressive; yet they sometimes display an amazing gentle side to their nature...There have been a number of accounts of them rescuing other animals that are in distress!

The latest incredible drama happened recently in Tanzania. The rescue was witnessed and video taped by Tom Yule, a South African working in Tanzania as manager for Grumeti Expeditions. He and a tour group were watching the Wildebeest and Zebra migration across the Mara River.

At a certain time every year there is a great migration of wildebeest and zebra across certain areas  - it is one of the greatest spectacles in the natural world. One of the big obstacles in the migrating animals' way is the Mara River. In October this year the river was flowing very strongly as there had been recent heavy rains.

While Tom Yule and the other people in the group were watching the animals crossing the river, they saw a wildebeest calf swept downstream by the strong current. A hippopotamus in the river immediately went after the little wildebeest and placing itself on the downstream side of the calf, nudged it with it's snout and kept it above the water until it could get to the other side and join the rest of the herd. :)

That wasn't the end of the incredible "drama" - a few minutes later a zebra foal was swept away by the water and straight away the hippo went after it and helped it to the opposite side like it had done before. The foal managed to get onto a little rock island very close to the bank but the poor little thing was so exhausted by this time that it just stood there panting.

The hippo then got out of the water and nudged the foal from behind, even gently giving it a little bite at the back to get it moving. The foal moved off the rock across the channel to the opposite bank and then ran off to join the rest of the herd again. :)

Here is the YouTube video:


Isn't God's creation wonderful!!!