The hippopotamus is the second-largest land mammal after the elephant and one of Africa’s most formidable species.
Despite their seemingly bulky, slow appearance on land, hippos are surprisingly fast and agile in water, where they are most powerful and most dangerous.
Equipped with massive jaws, large tusks, and tremendous bite force, they can easily defend their territory, making them responsible for more human fatalities in Africa than almost any other large animal.
Hippos are also highly social, often gathering in large pods, and their territorial behaviour in rivers and lakes adds to their reputation as one of the continent’s most feared aquatic giants.
These two juvenile lions are fearless as they attack a hippo as it walks across the savanna.
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