Large and dangerous!
September 9, 2012
PLEASE CLICK PHOTOS FOR BEST VIEW 🙂
Hippos (or hippopotamus) swimming peacefully in a lake in Ngorongoro, Tanzania.
Here is junior on tour with mother – or father!
Everything looks peaceful – but nevertheless is this tremendous animal extremely dangerous: With a maximum speed around 30 km/h (19 mph) in combination with being one of the largest (up to 3 tonnes) and most aggressive creatures in the world – the hippo is one of the most dangerous animals in Africa.
Hippos live much of their lives in water or mud, even childbirth takes place in the water!
In Lake Manyara National Park, Tanzania, I was lucky to watch (in a safe distance!) a group of hippos relaxing on the shore near the lake:
25 Comments
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Truels' Blog 
Yes, it always surprises me how an animal that large and seemingly lethargic can be so aggressive and move so fast on land! Good pics, Truels!
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Thanks for your comment, Isa!
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Thanks for the back story and surprisingly close pics of them
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Thanks for your comment, I’m glad I did not move closer 😉
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Glad your encounter was peaceful. I know of the Hippos much deserved reputation.
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Thanks for your comment, Scott!
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Pretty sure I can NOT run that fast. Luckily the hippo population in Nova Scotia is on the decline. 😉
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I’m sure you do not have big problems with hippos in Nova Scotia 😉
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They certainly don’t look anywhere near as dangerous as their reputation proves them to be, do they… Cool shots too.. Hope you were using a long lens..
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I was in safe distance with my 75-300 mm lens 🙂
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Du har fått kjempeflotte bilder av hele dyret ser jeg!
Herlig! Mine flodhester tittet opp av vannet!
Ha en flott dag!
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Ja det gjorde de fleste af “mine” også!
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I wouldn’t swim in that river. 🙂 Great post with nice photos and very informative text.
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I wouldn’t either – and didn’t!
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Wonderful captures of these animals in their natural habitat…well done!
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It’s great to experience these animals out there – much different from the zoo!
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They can be very dangerous, even though they look so relaxed floating just under the waterline.
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Right, but everything was peaceful while we were there.
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Jeg ville ikke hatt disse løpende etter meg!!!
Men jeg begynner å forstå hvorfor folk reiser på fotosafari – flotte bilder!
PS Takk for kommentaren – det kommer mer MC, men uten meg 🙂
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Det var fantastisk. Og billederne bad jo nærmest om at blive taget!
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Hippos are impressive indeed ! Better look at them from afar… great shots again.
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We did! Thank you for your comment, Isa!
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Great pictures. I like the one with the youngster. (Hippo used to be one of my nicknames at school – from my name, (not my size or eating habits!)
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I liked this youngster sitting on the back of his/her mother (?). Here in Denmark The HIPO Corps was a Danish auxiliary police corps, established in 1944 by the German Gestapo…. Very bad people 😦
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That’s one thing we were spared, thankfully.
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