In rarest of encounters a Hippo was seen helping a crocodile take down a wildebeest as a furious three way tussle was initiated between the two to kill the helpless wildebeest at Londolozi Private Game Reserve, South Africa
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| A furious battle between crocodile and Hippo to take down the wildebeest |
We all know that nature is quite unpredictable while it helps sustain life on earth , often at times it takes lives too to reboot itself in it's unique way of repairing itself from various catastrophic natural phenomenons, the same goes for wildlife as well where in predators take on other animals to survive and balance the abundant ratio for various animal species while herbivores take on flora species to survive but often at times the wildlife can be unpredictable too as sometimes animals turn against each other of the same species or show bizarre behavior that has never been seen before. Well this was the case with this hippo who apparently a herbivore helped a predator to take down another herbivore in a rarest of encounters that wildlife experts have ever witnessed at Shingilana Dam in Londolozi Private Game Reserve, South Africa where the hippo turned against it's own kind helping the crocodile kill the wildebeest.
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| Crocodile seen attacking the unsuspecting wildebeest drinking from the river and dragging it deeper into the waters |
It all began when a wildebeest came near the river bank Shingilana Dam in South Africa's Londolozi Private Game Reserve to quench it's thirst unaware of the predator's presence in the river as the crocodile pulled a surprise attack on the wildebeest sinking it's teeth deep into the wildebeest and dragging it all the way to the middle of the river where the riverbed was deeper. And saying so a furious battle between the crocodile and the wildebeest began as the wildebeest struggled to get itself free from crocodile's grip by thrashing violently in the river to throw off the predator but the crocodile continued to maintain it's grip.
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| Hungry hyenas looking looking for an opportunity to grab the wildebeest should it escape from crocodile's grip |
To make things more interesting for the crocodile expecting a delicious wildebeest meat as it's dinner and worse for the struggling wildebeest a pack of hungry hyenas show up at the river shore looking keenly to attack in case the wounded wildebeest manages to free itself from the crocodile's grip and escape.
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| Smiling Hippo arrives at the battle scene between crocodile and wildebeest as everyone thinks it will go for the crocodile |
Meanwhile photographer Nick Kleer a guide at South Africa’s Londolozi Pioneer Camp came across the crocodile vs wildebeest battle across the Shingilana Dam and started to take photographs of the thrilling battle in water as wildebeest continued to struggle against crocodile's grip and at the same time hyenas preying outside the river for a lucky escape.Very little did Nick knew that he was about to witness one of the rarest surreal experiences of a herbivore helping a predator kill another herbivore.
Hippo tries to Protect Wildebeest from huge Crocodiles
Usually hippos who are herbivores are shown to protect other herbivores like wildebeest against crocodiles as these mammals show protective instinct is to protect the other species like them especially against crocodiles whom they are not afraid of while the later are. Female hippos in particularly are more protective and will show no mercy whenever a predator is near their young offspring's. In the video above you can see a hippo trying to help a pregnant wildebeest escape from two vicious and huge crocodiles in the Mara River during the great migration in the Serengeti but unfortunately retreats after being overpowered by the two crocodiles resulting in the wildebeest being taken down by the crocodiles.
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| To everyone's shock hippo arrives to attack the wildebeest instead of crocodile |
Well while the furious battle of wildebeest continued in the Shingilana dam from jumping and splashing around to escape the grip of the forbidden reptile, a female hippo was watching the battle from a close distance and started inching closer to the crocodile and wildebeest. Nick Kleer was sure that the hippo was going for the crocodile to protect the wildebeest as it was their natural instinct but what he witnessed was beyond his imagination as the hippo started with a big splash and to everyone's surprise was seen thrashing the wildebeest like a rag doll and even bit it three times in a row before tossing the poor wildebeest half dead while the crocodile continued to hold his grip of female wildebeest's mouth.
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| Having teamed up with hippo the crocodile finally succeeded in killing the wildebeest |
Finally after the unexpected thrashing of the wildebeest the three animals went on a three way tussle as crocodile and hippo sinked their massive incisors in to struggling animals back to tear off it's flesh as the exhausted wildebeest finally gave up and died in an unexpected team up between crocodile and the hippo ending an hour long struggle of the wildebeest to survive the killing. After the killing both crocodile and hippo went on their separate ways as crocodile went home with prized dinner.
Did you know Hippos love to lick Crocodiles
This unexpected behavior of the hippo came as a shock to the wildlife experts as they debated as to what might have caused the female hippo to act in such manner, may be it was protecting a offspring near by or fell in love with the crocodile or was just trying to put the wildebeest out of it's misery or maybe the hippo was blind or had poor eye sight. The Londolozi Private Game Reserve is often called the protector of all living things with the park been converted from a hunting farm to an ecological center in the 1970s but looks like predators and teaming up with some unexpected animals to meet their ends. What do you think made the hippo team up with the crocodile? don't tell me the crocodile kidnapped the female hippo's offspring and forced her into slavery for her offspring's safety. :D
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| Heroic Hippo saves young wildebeests life and comforts the young fella with a big smile |
Talking of heroes it reminds me of the
jungle king who battled the buffalo unto it's death despite being weak and died like a majestic hero in one of the amazing and encouraging wildlife fights ever captured by a photographer.