Three overly curious baby hippos have learned not to ‘poke the bear’ or in this case pester a grumpy elephant at the river.
Footage captured by Evan Malsbury shows three baby hippos emerging from the water at the Umfolozi River in KwaZulu-Natal and nonchalantly making their way closer to an elephant who clearly does not want to be bothered (Make sure you watch up until the 1 minute 30-second mark when all the action happens).
Malsbury told Latest Sightings that the incident was completely unexpected. ‘We were part of an organized tour group that had arranged for a river cruise. There were several other boats on the river, nothing too unusual prior to this sighting, just many hippo groups grazing along the river,’ he said.
Boat driver and tour director told Latestsightings that seeing an elephant near the river bank is an unusual occurrence and prompted everyone on the tour vehicle to get a closer look. The elephant can be seen minding its own business as it grazes near the water’s edge when a trio of hippos approach him – he immediately reacts to usher them away, creating a standoff between them.
As they make their way closer, the elephant lashes out in frustration tearing a nearby tree branch down, warning the hippos to retreat. With the crack of the tree branch, the hippos are jolted back into the water, disappearing before the nearby viewers’ eyes. ‘The hungry hippos were no match for the elephant but thankfully no one but the tree was hurt,’ said Malsbury Malsbury says the tour direct suggested that due to the hippos young age they were still learning how to interact with elephants.
Picture: Kruger Sightings
