Eight Unmissable Hippo Moments | BBC Earth

every lake and river has a resident population of hippos they too are social creatures but they are also territorial spy hippo is going where few others dare to go he needs to be [Music] cautious his subjects are notoriously bad tempered and they could be [Music] anywhere it's never a good idea to get on their wrong side spy hippo has been given a warning he must avoid sudden movements as he gets closer ear wiggling shows confidence facing one of Africa's most dangerous animals spy hippo must hold his ground the Pod is made up of females looked over by a single male fortunately females are less aggressive spy hippo is already capturing some of the closest views that have ever been [Music] seen But hippo spent spend much of their time below the surface as the hippos dive so must spy hippo he mimics their movements rather than swim hippos walk [Music] underwater through the MC spy hippo glimpses an extraordinary sight [Music] fish are shadowing the hippo's every move these are barbs they usually feed on the riverbed but when the hippos appear they sh around them as spy hippo moves closer it's clear that their skin is a maze of cuts and scratches these fight marks easily become infected and parasites can also invade this is where the fish come in together they set up an underwater Clinic with the hippos as willing patients the barbs may be skin Specialists but they'll try a bit of dental hygiene too [Music] [Music] after having a full body treatment the hippos seem to enter a [Music] trance but but nothing goes to waste the death of a hippo provides a meal for the river's most fearsome and efficient Predators the Nile crocodile growing up to 5 m in length these crocodiles hunt and scavenge is a lot of Crocs a hippo carcass just down the river from the studio is instantly set upon by these voracious reptiles this is about 100 m in front of us a classic luanga dead hippo in the water and about 30 crocodiles what's amazing is that there are two or three hippos that are coming in and actually trying to force the crocodiles off the carcus obviously mom will be one of them there seems to be a whole gang that they're trying to force the Crocs off while they tear this things pieces so it's pretty primeval the whole thing hippos and crocodiles normally coexist peacefully but Crocs will take everything opportunity to prey on a weak animal or scavenge a dead one we' seen one or two of these hippos doing these big yawning displays which is really a threat to the crocodiles they're trying to drive the crocodiles off with this big yarn and you know sharp teeth and everything but the Crocs obviously not intimidated by that at all and the crops are here in numbers so that you know the hippos have got no chance really of driving them up Allison Leslie is one of the foremost authorities on Nile crocodiles she explains to one of the film crew the unique manner in which the Crocs feed if it's a bony chunk they will literally just Crush 2,000 per square inch they will just Crush everything until it's in in a sort of a soft enough condition that they can just swallow and if it's a chunk of say for example skin or innards they just fill their mouth and shake and shake and shake until this food literally slides down their throat there's some sort of hierarchy there they rely each other to actually grab onto either end of a piece of prey and then they rotate in opposite direction so although to us it looks like this mad frenzy and splashing and going on there's actually a really controlled sort of system in place there amazingly so everybody's concentrated in the areas the hippos are dying off you know slowly but surely and these cleaning machines have come in just to you know keep the system freshened up crocodiles are opportunists they feed on fish in the river and at this time of year will make the most of any dying or dead hippos but they will also take advantage of any animal coming to the river to drink with that sort of number of Crocs in an area obviously if there's an impal on the bank there's going to be a number of Crocs going for that animal if we don't get rain I think there's going to be a bit of an uproar in some of these areas so for the Thirsty animals this croc-infested river is as dangerous as it is [Music] necessary you know a few months time the water here will cease to flow 8,000 square kilm of swamp will dry and disappear and all the hippos of the okavango will face real [Music] hardship what is the hippo Sanctuary it keeps them cool in the baking heat and provides the vegetation on which they Depend and safety away from predators but with all of this slowly evaporating everyone will need to be prepared the CF is now several weeks old and has built up his strength it's time for him to meet the family returning to the Pod with a new baby is inevitably risky a mother has to reestablish that she's a member of the Pod and in the excitement a clumsy adult could crush her Cal the dominant bull is right in her path if she stands her ground with him hath her battle could be [Applause] won but the real problem comes from an unexpected [Applause] Place her previous Cal is showing an unhealthy interest she's battle scarred and appears to have a quarrelsome [Music] nature jealousy or curiosity whichever it is it's dangerous herf is far too young to be pushed around like this he's frightened and stays close to his [Music] mother [Music] I [Music] this has turned into an attack and the mother must put a stop to [Music] it the pair remain on the periphery of the Pod but the rest of the family can still hear them hippos are thought to be the closest living relatives of whales and they too make most of their vocalizations underwater their head and jawbones capture vibrations and transmit them directly into the ear vibrations become sound and In These Quiet Waters these can carry up to a mile the heat is overwhelming hippos Can't Sweat but they do secrete a thick oily reddish fluid this acts as a sunscreen and helps protect against infection [Music] but he still needs to [Music] drink water holes are dangerous traps for thirsty [Music] animals this one is staked out by [Music] Lions they're practiced giant Killers together they can take down an [Music] elephant he's dying of thirst but he stands [Music] firm a hippo can hold his ground if he needs to and he forces the Lions to allow him a share finally he gets his much needed [Music] drink relief is on its way in the distance a flood is creeping slowly closer [Music] it travels along the hippos dry paths so once again the hippos have determined the the course of the river's [Music] tals the face of the okavango changes once again and all that the hippos had lost will soon [Music] return their resilience determination and adaptability have carried them through the toughest of [Music] times water once more flows along the veins of the Delta and life soon [Music] reappears as the land recovers and the flood waters Peak the channels created by the hippos carry the water to its furthest [Music] [Music] limits it's they who perpetuate the watery Wonderland of the okavango [Music] everything and everyone that lives here owe their presence to the [Music] hippos Africa's River Giants the intimidation begins when neither backs down there can only be one outcome fights can go on for hours and can be to the death forward pointing tusks can stab right through protected blubber this Savage bite to the Head brings the contest to an end the incumbent has reestablished his right to mate with the females and he wastes no time this is a prime territory and he will face many more challenges if he is to continue to hold it it's the dry season in Zambia the lagoons are either baked dry or the mud is so thick animals get stuck with fatal consequences this male hippo has been living in one small Lagoon but as it dries it's turning into a death trap understandably the females that once shared it with him have all left even if he wants to he can't stay much longer he needs water to keep cool and females to mate with and this is where they all are almost all the hippos in the area are now in what is left of the luanga river because it's the last place where there's still deep water this Bend is controlled by an all powerful male since the drought many more females have joined his [Music] herd they are happy to live cheap by jaw but any male who comes here in the hope of mating must first defeat the over Lord the wandering male arrives and has a decision to make submit or [Music] fight [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] victory for the overlord his domination of his channel in the river remains and with it mating rights with the [Music] females the loser is alive but is an outcast he retreats to another part of the river where it's so shallow that no females will follow his chance to Father Offspring is over for now most of the water has now gone the channels carry little more than trickles compared with what once flowed [Applause] here only the tracks of the departing hippos remain [Music] their paths now Dry still link the last remaining pools and the grasses they depend on will soon wither and die most hippos have headed north following their all important water some are still in search of a [Music] [Applause] [Music] refuge only a few pools in the area are still big enough to hold a hippo pod and many pods are forced to share large groups of up to 200 hippos crowd together in the last of the water the pressure is mounting and new arrivals just stir things [Music] up [Music] the shrinking pools have also trapped fish and they attract [Applause] [Music] fishermen [Music] [Music] Pelicans arrive in their [Music] [Applause] [Applause] thousands this number of birds could clean out a pool in just a few days [Music] so the fish eagles need to get in [Music] first the fish Gather in shs around the hippos for safety but the fish Eagles aren't easily put off the hungry Pelicans move in closer and a few feeding Friendzy [Applause] Begins the HPP are already stressed and this ftic activity is too much for some of them they become increasingly Territorial and one ball loses his temper and overreacts [Music] he the crocodiles make a meal of the casualties 20-month-old hippo Emma and rescued 6-month-old baby Molly hippos are known as the deadliest mammals in Africa I love you I love you yeah but after escaping poaches at a young age Emma has been hand raised by petronel I love IM my dearly she slept with me for almost 3 to four months on the bed on a mattress everywhere she could she uh was very very tiny when she came in come I would love to take Emma out for a walk Molly came here more recently after her mother was shot alone and defenseless she was attacked by wild Bush pigs these two orphans now have a very close Bond Emma come come come come come come slide over there we go okay Molly must follow yeah Molly is just attached to Emma um Emma's Molly's strong anchor Molly's imprint is on Emma Molly's imprint is not at all on any human we're busy preparing a area for them near the river with with much less human contact petronel wants them to get used to living away from her house in a remote area of the sanctuary slowly Michael as well as getting them familiar with other animals they might come across in the wild mmy I would love to know what they're saying to each other and say hey come Emma come when I see these guys they have one thing in common they're all orphans in the wild hippos will travel up to 6 miles to locate feeding grounds and will graze on grass for up to 5 hours a night despite their huge bulk hippos can easily run as fast as the average human to make sure they continue in their development petronel has chosen the perfect place and it's right on the edge of the wild Reserve there's a little bit of water here and a he loves water and I love I would love Emma to spend more time here in summer time in a few months time it'll be the rainy season and this Dam will be flooded petronel hopes it'll become a permanent home for Emma and Molly em let's see if there's bits of water here hippos can spend up to 16 hours a day submerged in water to keep their massive bodies cool in the hot African sun and they can even hold their breath underwater for up to 5 minutes this place is certainly getting their seal of approval but she is definitely in a happy place for me to to have it out here is is that not everything I would love to one day just see her swimming all by herself spending time in the water and just be a hippo again nice you're in a hurry to go back Emma and Molly are proof that creating strong bonds between orphans is a successful way to help rehabilitate wildlife that

Channel: BBC Earth

Views: 201,336

Keywords: bbc documentary, bbc, bbcearth, bbc earth, hippos in the drought, hippo behavior, animal fight, hippo fight, animal attack, animal battle, baby hippo, hippo vs hippo, spy in the wild, spy hippo, fish cleaning hippo teeth, robot hippo, bbc earth hippo fight, hippos fighting lions, hippos fighting alligators, hippos fighting zoo, hippos fighting each other, animal fights, animal fight night, animal battles

Id: 15QDTRG3BM8

Length: 34min 43sec (2083 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 26 2023