The lion enjoys the title of the undisputed ''king of the jungle'' due to its raw power and strength. In the wild, other animals cower in fear when a lion roars. However, a recent viral video proves otherwise. In the video shared on Latest Sightings' YouTube Channel, a group of hippos is seen attacking a lion and scaring it away. The rare footage was captured in Kruger National Park.
''This lion is stranded on a rock in the middle of a river. Suddenly, hippos start surrounding him. One of the hippos attacks the lion, making him jump into the water!! He has to get to the bank but swims right on top of another hippo hiding under the water,'' the video was captioned.
Watch the video here:
The video shows the lion sitting on top of a rock in the middle of a river. It is not known how it got there in the first place. Soon, a group of hippos moves toward the lion and circles the rock he is sitting on. Suddenly, one of them aggressively charges at it. The lion has no other option but to jump into the water to escape the group of angry hippos. In the end, another hippo went for the lion but the big cat was quick to escape.
The video has amassed 17 lakh views and more than 500 comments since being shared on March 14. One user reacted to the video and wrote, ''Nature never ceases to amaze me! It's fascinating to witness the dynamic interactions between different species, even if it can be intense at times.''
Another commented, ''WOW. That lion was like, okay I'm leaving and the hippo is like NOT FAST ENOUGH. It's a shame we missed some of what happened prior, notice the edit. How the heck did the lion end up there?'' A third said, ''The animal kingdom never ceases to amaze us. Witnessing a role reversal where hippos attack a lion is a testament to the unpredictability of nature.''
A fourth added, ''Thing is "The king of the jungle" is the concept derived by humans for animals & not by animals themselves. In the wild everybody lives by the edge of the sword. Every predator is being hunted by the bigger one.''
According to the BBC, the hippopotamus is the world's deadliest large land mammal, killing an estimated 500 people per year in Africa. Hippos are aggressive creatures, and they have very sharp teeth. Since they spend the majority of their time submerged to keep their skin cool and moist, they reside in locations with a lot of water.
