Terrifying video captured the moment a raging hippopotamus recently gave a group of tourists on a speedboat a run for their money on the Zambezi River in Zambia.
A sightseer recorded the unhinged ungulate charging him and his pals on May 23 in what appears to be the beast’s equivalent of a butterfly stroke, the South West News Service reported.
“It all started as a sunset cruise along the Zambezi River in Livingstone, Zambia. We were admiring a pod of hippos near our boat as we were making our way down stream back to the lodge,” said the tourist, who wished to remain anonymous.
“I took out my phone to record them in their natural habitat with the beautiful sunset over the Zambezi in the background. As we were passing the hippos, we noticed one go under. Little did we know that it was coming straight for us,” he said.
A group of tourists took a sunset cruise along the Zambezi River and were viewing a pod of hippos. SWNS
One hippo submerged itself and resurfaced barreling toward the boat. SWNS
The hippo chased the tourists for about 200 meters. SWNS“As soon as it breached the water, we knew it wasn’t going to stop until we were well out of its way — it continued chasing us for about 200 meters until we were able to speed away to safety,” he added.
On average, hippos – which can measure up to 16 feet in length and weigh more than 3,300 pounds — are responsible for the deaths of about 500 people every year, according to the report.
