00:00A few weeks ago, we brought you this footage of a croc trying to drag a wildebeest under the water.
00:06And as you can see here, it latched onto the poor guy's leg and refused to let go.
00:11Hi, I'm the host and this is our channel.
00:14Now, if you've ever seen a croc try to drag something under the water,
00:19you all know that it s a pretty hopeless situation for the prey animal.
00:23Because the crocs have such powerful jaws, and they use those jaws to clamp down and crush bones.
00:28You might think that a wildebeest would have enough strength to pull itself away.
00:34But when the prey animal tries to do that, the croc tightens its grip and cracks some bones.
00:39That means that fighting back is really painful.
00:42So a lot of animals will try to get away without putting up a fight.
00:46But unfortunately, for this wildebeest, it can't get away.
00:50And despite its best efforts, it ends up drowning.
00:54And just as things couldn't get worse, two hippos decide to enter the fray.
00:58They come over to check out what's going on, see the croc attacking the wildebeest, and decide to attack the croc.
01:05The two hippos chase the croc around, and the croc does unstick around to find out what's s going to happen.
01:11And once the coast is clear, the beleaguered wildebeest makes it to shore.
01:16Now, this is a rare piece of footage.
01:18Because it's s not every day that you see hippos defend another species.
01:22Now, the hippos could have been protecting their own young, but there were no hippos nearby.
01:28And besides, hippo calves spend most of their time in the water anyway.
01:33So this wasn't a case of maternal instinct.
01:36Instead, these hippos were defending their territory.
01:39And even though they did unknow that there was a willebeest on the other side of the equation,
01:44they knew that the croc was intruding into their space.
01:47And hippos are known for being incredibly aggressive when they feel threatened.
01:52It only takes a small encroachment into their space to set them off.
01:56And even though the threat in this case wasn't directed at them personally,
02:01they still felt compelled to act.
02:03In fact, hippos kill more people in Africa than any other large mammal except for humans.
02:09And that's because they're so territorial and unpredictable.
02:12Even though this wildebeest got lucky this time,
02:16wildlife experts say that it won't stay that way for long.
02:20A seriously injured animal is easy prey for predators like lions, hyenas, leopards, and even crocodiles.
02:27So this wildebeest probably won't live much longer.
02:31So why don't the hippos just kill the wildebeest instead of chasing away the crocodile?
02:36Well, the hippos don't want to expend energy unless they have to.
02:40Chasing away the croc is a lot easier than killing the wildebeest.
02:44Especially since the wildebeest was already half dead.
02:48And since hippos are generally solitary creatures,
02:51it probably wouldn't even think to share its kill with another hippo.
02:55So even though the hippos saved the wildebeest from the crocodile,
02:59it was only because they wanted to protect their own turf.
03:02In other words, don't expect any hippos to come to your rescue anytime soon.
03:07As always, thank you for watching.
03:10And if you liked this video, please feel free to check out my others.
03:14I'm the host. See you next time.
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