It’s not entirely rare to see a hippo out of water, but not exactly common either. They do spend the majority of their waking hours in rivers, lakes and ponds, seeking relief from the heat and much needed protection for their sensitive skin. But they will sometimes seek dry land at night to sleep, and they can occasionally be spotted eating grass in the early morning hours before the sun rises. The one thing that is for sure is that they are not to be messed with. This big guy we encountered one morning in the Masai Mara of Kenya was eyeing us cautiously as I snapped a few pictures. We quickly moved on, making sure that he didn’t feel threatened and that he had a clear path back to the water. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/320th of a second
In Tanzania I witnessed two male hippos fighting for the girls in the water. What amazed me is as fast as they are on land, they are ‘twice’ as fast in the water. They can also be pretty mean to each other- taking big bloody bites of flesh out of each others backsides. This ruined all my thoughts of Disney’s version of the delicate Hippo.
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It’s not entirely rare to see a hippo out of water, but not exactly common either. They do spend the majority of their waking hours in rivers, lakes and ponds, seeking relief from the heat and much needed protection for their sensitive skin. But they will sometimes seek dry land at night to sleep, and they can occasionally be spotted eating grass in the early morning hours before the sun rises. The one thing that is for sure is that they are not to be messed with. This big guy we encountered one morning in the Masai Mara of Kenya was eyeing us cautiously as I snapped a few pictures. We quickly moved on, making sure that he didn’t feel threatened and that he had a clear path back to the water.
Awesome image of an animal that has awesome strength. It is best that you moved on quickly after capturing a few shots, Sean.
They are certainly massive creatures. Must look like a building moving when they do decide to go to or from the water.
They are surprisingly fast and run up to 20 miles an hour.
They seem even more menacing out of the water. He does not look like a happy camper!
In Tanzania I witnessed two male hippos fighting for the girls in the water. What amazed me is as fast as they are on land, they are ‘twice’ as fast in the water. They can also be pretty mean to each other- taking big bloody bites of flesh out of each others backsides. This ruined all my thoughts of Disney’s version of the delicate Hippo.
That is one industrial case of stink-eye!
—– Should you find
—– A colossus in your road
—– BEWARE
—– Short tempered myopic
—– Fleet of foot
—– Does not like giggling.
one great pic. of this ungly beast, ) I sure dont want to messs with this thing, jut by his looks is enough to scare you off. )