A battle of giants in the Namibian wilderness. Such a phrase gives the impression of an astonishing fight between two African mammals, and this is exactly what tourists were able to witness when they visited the Erindi Private Game Reserve, located in the south-east of Omaruru in Namibia.
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In the ring, we have an elephant and a hippopotamus. Will there be a KO?
Calmly grazing away
You should never disturb a mastodon when they’re eating! Apparently, the male elephant, that was filmed by a group of visitors, definitely didn’t expect to be interrupted mid-meal. While he was calmly grazing away on the grass a few meters from a herd of hippos, he suddenly stopped when one of the females approached him. And Madame Hippo, who didn’t seem to want to pick a fight with the elephant, wasn’t very well received. What bad luck!
For no apparent reason, the male charged at the hippo mother that only weighed about a tonne and a half, which was nothing in comparison to the elephant that weighed around 5 tonnes!
He then flipped her off the ground using just the power of his trunk and she went flying into the air. However, the hippo wasn’t going to stand for that and got back up to defend her young that wasn’t far away. Despite the violence of the fight, the female hippopotamus left with just a few cuts but definitely a bruised ego.
Not as zen as the hippo
It’s worth mentioning as well that this herbivore isn’t known for its vulnerability, nor its friendly nature. After the elephant and the rhino, the hippo is the 3rd heaviest land mammal on the planet and it can be very aggressive. And that’s not forgetting the impressive canines that measure 50cm long and are able to run at 45km/h (around 30mph). They are very territorial and are able to fight to the death. In Africa, they are even considered the most dangerous animal.
