The hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) are always near water. Most often they are in the water where they can be submerged. This blog recounts three experiences. There was an exception. In one of the camps where we stayed a small hippo was scampering under the board walk and into the woods in the evening. I believe that it was in the camp where it could take shelter from the local pride of lions. In the Okavango delta the hippos were in the river system and not very visible. When in the river of Chobi they were more visible from the stream and facing the bank. There they would submerge and occasionally reemerge to walk in the bank.
The feature image is a portrait of a hippo in the Mara river
The cows were watchful of their young as they both ate their fill of the grass. It was clear that there was some social group interaction among the adults. They tended to stay in loose proximity. This was really evident in the area of the Mara river in the savanna of Kenya. While in the river they were not interactive with the nearby crocodiles. The crocodiles know better and keep their distrance.
There was an occasion which was somewhat unexpected. Looking at the placidity of a small lake a dark bump breached the surface. In a few moments it became apparent that this was a very large adult hippo. It began to walk to and up the bank of the shore. This was a really big animal, perhaps the size of a small SUV.
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A Survivor
It was silent and ponderously slow. The slow gate might not have been due to its size but rather because of the large gaping wound in its left shoulder. It was deep and relatively recent but no longer bleeding. He was moving away from the lake and toward the woods.
We followed it for perhaps 50 yards. The wound was easily seen. Now it could be identified as two large parallel gouges through the skin and into the muscle. The hide in that area is tough, usually about two inches thick. Add to that the penetration through the four inches of flesh layers below the skin and you have some idea about the severity of the injury. The muscle was not severed but the skin through the fat layer was missing. I hope that the resulting infection won’t be too bad. There will be a big scar.
The distance between the two wounds and their general shape strongly suggested that these were caused by the two lower tusks, The skin remaining was ripped upwardly. These were probably made by a rival hippo. They were apparently acquired during an epic battle between two mammoth hippopotami.
The fight must have been just hours ago during the night. I wonder what the other guy looked like. The other contestant was not in sight. This fellow, with help of the birds, was tending to his wounds. This wasn’t his first encounter. He had been in other scrapes and had the scars to show. These fights can be deadly. It looks like this guy will be back for another day. Hippopotamus are reported to kill approximately 500 people per year making them the deadliest vertebrate animal in Africa
#hippopotamus #wound #herbivore #aquatic #fight #dominance #Africa #Maasai Mara #Botswana
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