Two hippos chased down a crocodile in South Africa’s Kruger National Park, saving a wildebeest it had attacked.
The unusual incident was caught on video by a tourist. The video shows how the crocodile bit the leg of an antelope that had separated from the herd. According to the person who filmed it, the crocodile tried for eight minutes to drag its victim into the water.
Two hippopotamuses unexpectedly came to the aid of the antelope, exhausted from the struggle. They approached the crocodile unnoticed from behind and then attacked it, forcing it to let go of its prey.
The two hippos were not at all acting out of pity for the herbivore. Rather, they did not notice the crocodile underwater, but only its victim, which they took for an intruder who had entered their territory. They simply tried to drive the antelope out of the water, but actually saved it.
During one of their regular visits to the Kruger National Park, Mervin and Tokkie van Wyk took this video which won them first prize in 50/50’s 2017 Field Focus competition.
