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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
In a rare wildlife encounter a harbor seal and a giant octopus were seen battling each other at Ogden Point breakwater in Victoria, Canada while the incredible battle was captured on camera by photographer Bob Ianson
Cowboy Frog has his own little rodeo after it decides to have fun riding a flying beetle as it displays his skills as a flying frog riding his tamed beetle friend just like in the movie how to train your dragon
How to train your Beetle (Flying frog version)
Well it looks like Disney, Pixar and DreamWorks Animation are not only changing and inspiring the lives of young kids but wildlife animals as well, especially with movies like Toy Story and how to train your dragon.
Talking of cowboys and riding flying creatures, a reinwardt flying frog took on the challenge of flying a huge beetle like a cowboy as it flew around on the beetle.
Meanwhile the local photographer Hendy Mp captured the adventure of the flying frog atop the black beetle near his house in Sambas, Kalimantan Barat in Indonesia.
The green and orange cowboy frog is called the reinwardt's flying frog and is a native to Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand and is classed as a near threatened species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
Despite being nearly extinct the flying frog seems to be enjoying his life riding around on other insects and thanks to local photographer Hendy Mp we have come to witness the beautiful adventure of the little frog.
Reinwardt's flying frog meets the black beetle asking her for a ride
The green and orange reinwardt's flying frog can be seen meeting with the black beetle on a tree, admiring the beetle's ability to fly and asks if he can ride on him for a while.
To which beetle thinks for a while before granting the frog the permission to sit and ride on his back.
Reinwardt flying frog seen climbing on top of the black beetle seemingly excited about the flying experience
Upon getting the female beetle's permission to ride on her back, the reinwardt flying frog immediately jumps on her back adjusting comfortably on top of her,
Just like a excited cowboy who is about to ride a bull with only difference that it would be enjoying the flight on a beetle.
Reinwardt flying frog seen grabbing black beetle's antenna as a joystick to navigate as a pilot during midair flight
After comfortably adjusting himself on top of the black beetle the frog can be seen leaping forward and grabbing the beetle's antenna to help navigate where it wants to go and as well as to keep hold of itself in midair just like flying dragons in the movie "How to Train your Dragon".
Reinwardt flying frog can be seen flashing a big smile the moments before the beetle starts to fly expressing his excitement midair
Most amazing thing about this green and orange cowboy frog trying to have fun flying a beetle was that the frog actually had a glimpse at the camera and flashed a huge smile showcasing how excited it was about his little rodeo in midair.
Moment when flying frog takes off the cowboy way while sticking his one hand in the air just like a cowboy while riding the beetle
And finally came the moment when the daring frog went flying with the beetle as he screamed Yee-haw! just like a cowboy flying in the midair for about five minutes. It even put his front leg in the air just like a cowboy would do while riding a bull which made it look like a cowboy frog riding a beetle having fun of his life in a little wildlife rodeo.
Meanwhile the beetle was happy to fly with someone for a change and of making their wish of flying come true as the frog navigated midair like a cowboy pilot riding a gentle bull beetle.
After riding for 5 minutes the reinwardt flying frog jumped off the beetle and hopped back to the trees to tell it's fellow frogs about his mini flying adventures and how befitting the name flying frog fits him, may be the frog will even switch to internet to check on his photos published in this article and start the trend of riding beetles and frogboy rodeos. :D
How do Flying and Gliding Frogs Fly
These reinwardt's flying frogs are commonly known as the black webbed tree frog or the green flying frog that have long toes with strong webbing between them.
This enables these animals to transition their fall into a gliding motion and thus referred to as flying frogs. They are known to lay their eggs in aerial foam nests which upon hatching in the form of tadpoles drop in to the water under the nest and complete their development there.
The flying frog gestures his rodeo fans with a irresistible smile while riding the beetle like a boss!
In a rare wildlife encounter a baby weasel was seen riding a flying woodpecker at Hornchurch Country Park, east London as the stunning moment was captured by photographer Martin Le-May
Surely mankind wasn't the only one fascinated by the concept of flying, as both humans and animals envy those who can fly and glide. Just as predicted in the wildlife encounter of a cowboy frog riding a beetle, the movie fantasies of humans riding animals that can fly like the flying creatures in movies such as how to train your dragon have caught up with the animals of the wild.
Looks like this time around we have encountered a baby taking on the challenge of riding a flying animal. In an incredible wildlife encounter a baby weasel was seen riding on the back of a flying woodpecker at the Hornchurch Country Park in east London as the stunning moment was captured by the photographer Martin Le-May.
Woodpecker gives baby weasel the ride of his life
The incredible capture of baby weasel riding a flying woodpecker was very similar to one of those numerous scenes from bird based animation movies like Epic, Rio, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, free birds, etc.
Baby weasel seen riding on the woodpecker as the bird struggles to get rid of the unwanted free rider
It all started when hobby photographer Martin Le-May was taking a walk with his wife Ann through the Hornchurch Country Park in East London in the hopes of clicking a green woodpecker for the first time.
Moments later as they walk through the garden they hear a squawking in the bushes and see a troubled woodpecker trying to fly. Both Martin and his wife Ann switch to their binoculars to have a closer look at the situation, where they discover a shiny red haired animal sticking to the back of the yellow green woodpecker.
Baby weasel riding on the back of the green woodpecker as the bird fears for its life
Unsure as to what was sticking to the back of the woodpecker, quick thinking Martin Le-May immediately reached for his camera as the woodpecker desperately flew towards them and captured the extraordinary picture of the century, where they saw a baby weasel riding the green woodpecker.
While it looked like one of those fairy tale stories where weasel meets a woodpecker and become friends, it was just the opposite where the baby weasel was trying to take down the woodpecker.
Usually weasels don't attack birds and their normal preys are rabbits but this brave baby weasel was certainly up for a big kill as it tried to prey on a huge woodpecker.
Baby weasel flying on the back of the woodpecker is tossed off by the bird as it flies back home having survived a potential danger to its life
However the mid air struggle between baby weasel and woodpecker ended shortly after the woodpecker shook off the hungry baby weasel using Martin's camera as distraction for the weasel as it flew towards them and used the moment when baby weasel was distracted to plan its escape route.
Having been defeated the baby weasel went back to the trees empty handed while the woodpecker had shy of relief and flew high into the sky as it survived a potential danger to its life.
Baby Weasel rides a Woodpecker
Meanwhile the wildlife experts were astonished at the rare wildlife sighting of a weasel trying to prey on a woodpecker as they described the baby weasel as the ferocious lion with body as light as a snickers bar.
Usually weasels are fearless and have very light body and are shown to take down animals bigger then themselves but it's rare for them to take down woodpeckers or maybe it was just the cowboy frog riding the beetle which inspired this extraordinary phenomenon.
#weaselpecker meme of Miley Cyrus riding the woodpecker with baby weasel and the wrecking ball
Weasels have been riding birds for centuries
While the wildlife experts were rejoicing the extraordinary feet of photographer Martin Le-May, the viral photos of the baby weasel and woodpecker spread like fire on internet with many first thought it was a fake wildlife picture and went on to create the popular #Weaselpecker twitter hashtag featuring
Numerous photoshopped images of the wildlife photo which included John Travolta riding the woodpecker followed by Vladimir Putin, meerkat with addition of Gandalf with it's eagle and star war characters, and then there was Miley Cyrus riding the woodpecker with a wrecking ball and the recent dress gate controversy of the dress color and the llama drama followed by wildlife bunch all riding together on the woodpecker.
While the Mirror came up with evidence that these weasels have been using birds as their private jets for centuries with the story of heroic weasel taking down on a magical bird beast called basilisk.
Meanwhile it was a dream come true for photographer Martin Le-May who got more than what he was looking for and now the whole world is going gaga over his click that has garnered millions of views across the world.
Watch how this brave Baby Elephant Hercules defended himself against the vicious attack of group of 14 lions at Norman Carr Safaris Chinzombo Camp in Zambia
An elephant from Thailand grabs a GoPro for a selfie with his owner Christian LeBlanc on being gifted with a basket full of bananas, inventing the new trend of elphies among the animal kingdom
You must have heard of those perfectly timed wildlife captures of various rare animal encounters going viral over the internet but the another great chunk of this popularity lies with the selfie obsessed Instagram population who will do anything for a viral capture like the recent viral trend of a man being kissed back by the horse while taking a selfie. Apparently the animal kingdom has caught up with the trend as well, especially those motion sensing camera traps left in the wildlife for observing various changes to the system of flora and fauna, wherein they often end up with selfies taken by various curious animals such as monkeys, octopus, polar bears, etc.
Long trunk selfie with the big bro from Thailand
But this time around the animal kingdom has a new star who apparently took a genuine selfie and that too with a human.
Elephant Pachyderm is offered a banana by Canadian tourist Christian LeBlanc in Thailand
It was traveler husband and wife duo Christian LeBlanc on their tour to whole of east Asia who stumbled upon a bunch of elephants at Koh Pangan, Thailand, where they decided to buy one of the elephants a basket of bananas and the next thing they know is the elephant reaching out to Christian's mounted GoPro camera which was set on automatic continuous shoot mode resulting in an incredible photo moment of having a selfie with an elephant, inventing the new trending hashtag Elphie among the animal kingdom.
Elephant takes selfie with a GoPro with Christian Leblanc in Thailand on being gifted with a banana for an epic Elphie
Shocked by what Christian and his wife had witnessed they decided to share the incredible elphie of a lifetime on Instagram where the pic got numerous accolades but it was only 2 months later that the photo of Elephant taking an selfie went viral on the internet via various social media channels. In the photo the elephant can be seen posing with his long majestic trunk for a selfie along with surprised Christian and how the arm length easily beats the Rock's long arm selfies. :D
How Elephants take their Selfies in the Wild
You got to say you don't often see elephants taking selfies and this one has to be one of the incredible wildlife encounters captured on camera this year. But apparently for travel enthusiast Christian LeBlanc the selfie clicked by elephant pachyderm wasn't that big of a shock who suspected it was elephants natural intelligence or curiosity to use the mounted GoPro like a selfie stick just like other tourists would do.
Trend setter Elephant Pachyderm who took a genuine "elphie" with a GoPro poses with Christian Leblanc in Koh Phangan, Thailand
While Christian Blanc marks the selfie as one of his best experiences the happy traveler's Instagram is filled with selfies taken with various wildlife animals like for example with the great white sharks, tortoises, happy elephants and lots of incredible moments captured while venturing coasts of Asia with his GoPro accompanied by his beautiful wife.
Hmm you probably might as well be wishing for a fortune selfie with an wild animal and yes why not after all the surprise power of the selfies is always worth capturing then random expected shots. ♫ (S-Elphie = Surprise Elphie or Selfie Elphie)
In a rare beach wildlife encounter a Bobcat was witnessed catching a 4 foot shark at Sebastian Inlet State Park near Vero Beach in Florida as the stunning moment was captured by photographer John Bailey
Bobcat catches a 4 foot shark and drags it off the water
Well they say whenever you witness a shark on the beach, make sure to get out of the waters as quickly as possible but apparently no one ever though of confronting one and taking it home without even using a fishing rod or a bait to fish it out of the waters.
Well this was the case with this rare wildlife encounter caught on camera where in a huge bobcat was witnessed attacking a 4 foot long shark at the Sebastian Inlet State Park near Vero Beach in Florida and dragged its catch off the waters as the entire moment was witnessed and captured by on vacation photographer John Bailey.
Photographer John Bailey apparently was taking an evening stroll through Sebastian Inlet State Park in Vero Beach when he spotted a huge bobcat keenly staring at the water. Curious and a bit scared John Bailey slowly moved closer to the bobcat to find out what the cat was up to where he discovered that the wildcat was apparently watching a shark in the shallows waters of the beach when it suddenly made a move for the shark as it swiftly jumped into the waters and caught the shark by it's tail and dragged the fish off the waters.
Bobcat dragging the struggling shark off the waters at Vero Beach, Florida
The bobcat was pretty quick at grabbing, snatching and pulling out the shark which didn't give John Bailey any time to capture it on his camera and furthermore he hadn't brought his camera to the beach but he knew it was once a lifetime opportunity to shooting to fame as a photographer so John Bailey switched to his Iphone to capture the bobcat holding its catch and dragging the struggling 4 foot shark.
Apparently in the process of capturing the bobcat catch a shark, John went in too close to the big cat which apparently scared the bobcat as it dropped his catch and made a run into the forests.
Watch Bobcat catch its Prey
While John Bailey who had no intention of scaring the bobcat or steal his catch was sad about bobcat dropping off his fish, he had greater things to cherish as he immediately shot to fame with his photo of a bobcat walking along the beach with a shark in its mouth as the photo went viral on the internet, especially among wildlife experts and organizations.
Wildlife experts said it was a really rare encounter of actually capturing a bobcat preying on a shark, although it's quite common for typical bobcats to often prey in the waters what was rare was actually capturing it on camera as bobcats often prefer solitary environments which makes it very difficult to capture one in action.
Swift Bobcat preys on a Pocket Gopher
While others had doubts about photo being fake, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission made it pretty clear that the photo was genuine and was one of the rarest encounters ever caught on camera. Hmm bobcat huh? Oh great am happy with my cats and dogs, No beach holidays for me in Florida. :P What about you? What would you have done if you witnessed a wildlife animal snatching a 4 foot shark or a scary hunt in the waters. ;)
In an extraordinary battle of survival both lion and Buffalo end up exhausted and bloodied in an epic long hour battle of endurance as both animals fight till the end until their fatal wounds finally succumbs to their death
6 yr old Lion vs Adult buffalo Death Match
Jungle survivals are always too harsh especially for lone predators who often risk their lives to take on someone bigger their size to survive especially when they are desperate and starving, calling for that one last call of hunt or die situation. This was the case in safari region of South Luangwa National Park, Zambia where a desperate and starving lion kicked out of his pride (herd of lions) attacked a lone female buffalo with all his might. The king of jungle having grown weak due to starvation desperately tried to bring down the huge buffalo down in a hour long battle of endurance as the female buffalo used its lethal horns to wound the lion with huge blows while the lion kept clinging on to buffalo's mouth with its claws and teeth despite being gored by the buffalo's horns. While both animals are covered in blood both desperately try to fight each other despite a long hour of exhaustion and fatal wounds as the lion kept biting the buffalo and clinging on to it with its claws while he buffalo kept tossing the big cat in air with its horns.
6 yr old starving male lion attacking a lone female buffalo in the South Luangwa National Park in Zambia
However the long battle off endurance was foiled when a group of buffaloes arrived to the female buffaloes rescue as they delivered a deadly blow to the exhausted lion freeing the female buffalo from the Lion's deadly attack.Shortly after which both the animals succumbed to their deaths having suffered some major damage during the epic battle of endurance and survival. The dramatic encounter was witnessed by safari guide Matt Armstrong-Ford of Eastbourne who took pictures of the nerve wrecking encounter of exhausted lion and buffalo fighting each other in the South Luangwa National Park in Zambia.
The exhausted lion biting and clawing on to buffalo's mouth while both are covered in blood
Matt Armstrong-Ford a photographer who works for Shenton Safaris as a guide and camp manager came across the extraordinary battle of single lion trying to take down a healthy adult buffalo. Usually lions take down buffaloes or creatures bigger then them in a pride with the help of other lions but here the hungry lion was trying to take down the buffalo all by himself and that to when he was very weak. Actually the fighting lion was known to Matt and he knew his story as to how the poor lion suffered from skin disease known as mange and had to detach from his pride. Basically Matt could relate to the struggling lion as his friend wanting him to win the fight as he photographed the two fighting each other.
How Lions Attack other Animals
The lion was hiding in the bushes near the lake waters to attack the lone buffalo who came to quench its thirst but instead found blood thirsty lion who jumped on to her biting and clawing desperately with all it's power to bring her down. For about an hour both the animals tried their best to survive the battle as the lion kept hold of his grip looking to an opportunity to deliver the killer blow while the buffalo kept the lion off with its lethal horns throwing him off now and then. As the two animals grew exhausted at one point the buffalo was successfully able to shake off the lion but instead of running away kept staring the lion for about sometime before they went on to fight again because the buffalo knew running will be a waste as it was too exhausted and might just give the lion an opportunity to deliver the killer blow.
The buffalo tries to shake off the lion but the lion continues to keep a grab on buffalo's mouth with it's teeth
It was later into the battle when the group of buffaloes looking at the incredible battle from a distance decided to go for the female buffaloes rescue as one of the buffaloes delivered a deadly blow to the worn out lion giving the female buffalo an opportunity to escape along with the rest of the herd as the lion lay on the ground smeared in blood, defeated and trying to catch his breath.
The herd arrives to the female buffalo's rescue delivering the lion a fatal blow and ending the hour long battle
Matt having known the lion was emotional to see his poor friend suffer as the defeated king of jungle dragged his badly wounded body under the bushes trying to attend to them by licking, while the majestic big cat gave a special look for the photo and died two days later succumbing to its fatal wounds while the buffalo died two weeks later of the spread infection throughout her body.
The Majestic big cat all smeared in blood and defeated gave it's all but unfortunately luck was not on his side and died days later
So altogether the battle of endurance between the lion and buffalo ended up with both dying later on . It was quite unfortunate for the young lion who suffered from a skin disease and had to fight the buffalo when he was weak but certainly was brave and had a pride of the king of the jungle as he chose to hunt for a bigger animal instead of a smaller one. :'( If both were supposed to die than the herd should have never arrived to the aid of the female buffalo and let the two decide who wins at the end. Must say it was one hell of a wildlife encounter that you will ever witness in a safari where a lion goes all alone instead of going in a pride to prey on such huge animals. It also reminds me of the brave baby elephant that defended himself against 14 lions, also reminding of the battle at Kruger where a herd of buffaloes protected a calf from a huge pride of lions and a crocodile.
Pride of Lions fight Crocodile and Herd for Buffalo calf
Watch this Hammerhead Shark attack nearly miss the two swimmers enjoying in the waters near Destin, Florida as the predator gets dangerously close to them
Watch this Giant Grouper fish eat a 4 feet shark in one bite as it snatches it from the Angler who was about to take out his catch from the waters near Florida's Gulf Coast
