The hippo gently nudges the infant wildebeest out of the water
Posted on 12/12/2010 9:06:05 AM PST by JoeProBono
Sometimes, strange and wonderful things happen within the world of African wildlife. A few weeks ago at Sanctuary Olonana, a luxury camp in the Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya, Mother Nature looked the other way while the nature of a mother hippo took over.
An infant wildebeest accidentally ended up in the middle of the Mara River, helpless and gangly and unable to swim. The calf had been crossing the river with its own mother (as part of the wildebeest migration, one of the natural wonders of the world), but was swept away by the strong current. The little guy wasn't doing too well and a crocodile began to circle.
A nearby female hippo caught sight of the struggling calf and nearby croc, and swam to his rescue. Guests watched anxiously for an intense fifteen minutes as she gently pushed the baby wildebeest to the shore where his mother was waiting -- a heroic and noble act by a notably aggressive animal. There's no actual proof that she's a mother hippo, but with maternal instincts like that, which stretched even beyond her species, I'm guessing that either she is, or she's going to be.
These touching photos were taken by the Sanctuary Olonana camp manager, who watched along with the guests and staff of the camp. I can only imagine the cheering when the baby wildebeest was finally brought to safety
The hippo gently nudges the infant wildebeest out of the water
I think the hippo may have just been using it as bait for the gator.
too cool... thanks for posting!
I didn’t know that wildebeest were born with a set of horns.
How dare that Hippo deprive that croc of his supper!
This is reprehensible behavior on the part of a hippo, and I think we should send in a combined task force of unarmed PETA and ACLU representatives to take the wildebeest away from her.
Thats no infant most be at least a yearling. And yes I do know
I didn’t know that wildebeest were born with a set of horns.
OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The expression on the zebra’s face is priceless.
They are not born with horns.
...maybe the mother hippo was ushering Hillary away from the baby hippo....and the zebra ain’t saying nothing unless he gets some of Dumbo’s stash
Mother hippo rescues baby African LOL
There’s a video on youtube of something similar happening between a much younger wildebeest and a hippo—a gator had grabbed the baby, and the hippo got it away from the gator and took it on shore...tried to get the baby to breathe and nudged it for a few minutes, but it was too late, so the hippo left it on the shore. Some vultures showed up, and a minute later the gator returned to reclaim it’s dinner...very interesting hippo behavior, I’d always heard they were reclusive and just plain mean.
No kidding bonehead
Awwww.
I seem to remember reading that hippos kill more people then any other animal on Earth.
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