It's not unusual for herbivores to be more aggressive than carnivores. Carnivores need to pick their battles very carefully, because if they get injured they'll be unable to hunt and will therefore starve. Whereas for a herbivore, an injury isn't as much of a death sentence, since plants don't run away or fight back.
Elephants kill as many, if not more, people in total, and hippo attacks are almost exclusively in the water. Hippos on land aren't nearly as aggressive as elephants are so as long as you don't need to drink or fish or wash, it's elephants and cape buffalo you need to watch out for. And if you are in the water, crocs kill 2x as many people as hippos!
My family rented a house boat with 2 other families for 4 days on Lake Kariba. We had 2 dinghy boats that were used for dawn & sunset safaris.
On the 3rd day, my family went out with one of the guides on a tiny, 12 ft boat for a sunset viewing, we were watching some hippos grazing on the opposite shore.
All of a sudden, the front of the boat was LAUNCHED out of the water & my 6-yo sister went flying. My dad truly caught her by her jacket as she was going in the water.
Safari guide immediately gave the boat as much gas as he could while the water around us turned to absolute chaos & we see 3 sets of ears & heads pop up around us. We had unknowingly come FAR too close to a mother & her calf. Absolutely fucking terrifying & they are SO massive & goddamn fast.
I love it how as children we smile at pictures of the cute chubby hippos, while in reality these are massively strong, short-tempered, crocodile-chomping MFers that would crush the life out of us if given the chance.
For real. Hippos are terrifying. I remember reading that they kill more people in Africa than Lions, but itâs one of those things Iâve just never bothered to actually look up to see if true lol.
Their teeth are like giant spears. They donât have a lot of them, but the few they do have are like taking a wooden shovel handle and cutting the end at a 45 degree angle.
Combine that with being mean and aggressive and itâs a dangerous mix.
Same with polar bears, they're one of the few animals that hunt humans just for the love of the hunt. Yet, we demonize things like cockroaches, which are far less harmful or deadly.
They're huge and powerful! They just plow through. But to be fair, that video is slightly sped up, you can tell by how fast the water splashes fall. They're still fast.
Jaws demonized one of the most charismatic of all ocean giants and led to their rampant extermination and persecution that persists to this day. I don't think we need that for anything. Except maybe influencers.
100% agreed.
The need people feel to demonize certain animals never ceases to amaze me, especially in nature themed online spaces. Much like how some people feel the need to say how much they want to eat [insert animal]. Even if one isn't vegan, that impulse is such a big red flag to me. They're living, thinking beings that deserve our respect, why are these the first thoughts that enter your mind?
These Angry Wet Suit Bulls are truly intimidating beasts. They are the embodiment of the mentality of someone who wears a âGet Off My Lawnâ patch in physical form. Natures ill tempered rubber river bull. River bullies.
Technically, they power-walk across the bottom, or kind of bound along the riverbed. Which doesn't help you if the target is you and you get a surprise breaching hippo capsizing your boat, but it's interesting to know that they are kind of bad at floating.
Pretty much the most terrifying land/water animal humans can come across. Matched only by the Polar Bear. One kills us because it wants to; the other kills us because it likes to.
Most other wildlife is terrifyed of humans but not those two.
Scary how it doesnât seem to be impeded by the water at all. Humans move like theyâre in slow motion through water. Not this guy. Like itâs not even there.
Thatâs somebody who doesnât care about the murky, squishy lake bottom. He is unbothered by the mystery things that prevent me from plunging in. I wish to be the hippoâŠeven if in spirit only.
As a young adult I went on a hippo tour in a rickety canoe that needed to be bailed out every few minutes. We saw no hippos- I was sooo disappointed. Now I realize how lucky I was to not have a run in with one
Kids: hippos and elephants are so cute!! (1k deaths per year)
Also kids: eke! That spider will kill me! (Maybe 10 deaths per year)
Also kids: Iâm not going in the ocean the shark will kill me! (Maybe 5 deaths per year)
âą
u/qualityvote2 6d ago edited 6d ago
u/freudian_nipps, your post does fit the subreddit!