Wildebeest Euthanized by Hippo – Wow !!
During watching and photographing our very first river crossing in the Maasai Mara our group was witness to an amazing display of nature and it’s ever strange ways. I could never have imagine I would photograph a Wildebeest euthanized by a Hippo during a migration crossing but nature is full of surprises.
Mesmerizing
For those who have never witnessed a crossing of Wildebeest during the annual migration through the Maasai Mara, all I can say is that it literally mesmerizes you. Crossings of Wildebeest can contain anywhere between 1,000 – 25,000 animals. This first crossing contained perhaps only 2 – 3,000 animals but was in no way any less enthralling than watching a crossing with huge numbers.
The Troops Gather
Wildebeest first mull around on the banks of the rivers and play a long, often drawn out, waiting and deciding game. This morning on the banks after the Talek river, after lapping up a bush coffee and breakfast, we were in luck as we did not have to wait for more than 20-30 minutes before the first Wildebeest hit the water and the crossing actually began. It literally only takes one Wildebeest to “break the ice” and the rest will follow. Wildebeest may not be the most intelligent animals on the planet but centuries of genetic programming tell them that the river crossing is dangerous and lives will be lost, that much they do seem to know. The rest of the Wildebeest’s mindset seems to focus purely on one thing, namely that the grass is greener on the other side of the river.
Pathways Carved By Generations
From hundreds of years of river crossings, river banks have many eroded pathways that the Wildebeest and other crossing herds of animals have carved out. You would think that they would learn to use these paths carved out by their ancestors but often when the crossing is taking place the Wildebeest are in frenzy mode and they have one goal in mind and that is to get across to the other side. This mindset results in Wildebeest literally falling off the sides of the steep cliffs regardless that there is an easy path right behind them. During this crossing our group witnessed this exact behaviour of Wildebeest using any available avenue to get down to the river side and cross. Two wildebeest in particular during their cliff side leaps of faith, fell hard and broke their backs. At the time of watching this through a lens I thought to myself, “that’s gotta hurt” and got a bit of a cold shiver through my body at seeing animals do this to themselves.
Casualties of War
Regardless of casualties the Wildebeest continue crossing and will trample anything in their path including their fellow herd members. The crossing came to an end with a few Wildebeest on the other side of the river who changed their mind and started moving off further downstream to look for another spot to cross. The two Wildebeest who broke their backs were stuck in the river. One was huddled right on the bank of the river not moving but still alive, the other one was caught out in the middle of the river stuck in a rocky section of the river. This Wildebeest continued struggling to get to the other side using purely his front legs to try and dislodge himself out of the rocks as his back legs had been paralysed due to breaking his back but as much as he tried he just ended up moving around in circles in the strong river current.
An Injured Soldier
A few metres from this struggling Wildebeest sat about 10-15 Hippo’s wading in the deeper water. The injured Wildebeest grabbed the attention of these Hippo’s quite quickly and what ensued was an incredible thing to witness. Several of the Hippo’s slowly waded closer to the Wildebeest to see what was happening, they could clearly see something was not right with this poor injured animal. The Wildebeest would kick around furiously trying to free himself and this would cause the Hippo’s to keep backing off and then slowly start creeping closer again. This behaviour went on for a good 15-20 minutes, yet each time the Hippo’s would draw a little closer to the Wildebeest.
An Unexpected Medic Hears the Call
Hippo’s as many people know are extremely unpredictable animals so we had no idea what type of encounter we were going to witness. After a bit of this approach and withdraw game, some of the Hippo’s would get right up next to the injured Wildebeest to get a real close look. Some of the older Hippo’s tried on several attempts to nudge the Wildebeest out of the rocks to help him along his way. Initially these approaches looked to us as if the Hippo’s were going to perhaps bite the Wildebeest but they were concerned about the peril of this injured animal.
Wildebeest Euthanized by Hippo
After a few minutes of this incredible behaviour, eventually one of the older male Hippo’s walked right up the Wildebeest grabbed him by the back and dragged him over the rocks into the deeper gulley section of the river. This Hippo then dragged the wildebeest under the water for a few seconds and then released him to let the strong river current take him away. The Wildebeest surfaced about 3 times for his last few breaths of air then disappeared under water and downstream. It was amazing to see a soft gentle side of a Hippo who essentially took this struggling animal and euthanised him putting him out of his misery.
As a photographer there is no time for emotion when things like this are happening, it’s a matter of document it now and think about it later. After writing this account I can say a whole lot of the feelings and thoughts that were in my mind at the time came rushing back to me. It certainly was an incredible interaction between animals unlike anything I have ever seen and it’s an experience I shall never forget.
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This is such a great story with exceptional images to back it up. Thanks so much for sharing this incredible moment in time.
Rgds
WildMan 😉
Thanks very much Wildman, so glad you enjoyed it.
This is a fantastic account of your experience. Your photos and words are so evocative that the action comes alive. Congrats.
Beverly (sister of Ian)
Hi Beverely, thanks so much for the comments, so happy you enjoyed it 🙂
Nice job capturing and relating this fascinating story. This was a really interesting read and one that I’ll be passing along. Well done.
Thanks very much Matthew, really glad you enjoyed it and thanks for stopping by.
Stunning series of captures and a sad end to this story,but that is how nature is.
Thank you for sharing this series of captures and story.
So glad you enjoyed it Johannes, thanks for stopping by.
what a spectacle! The narration couldn’t have come nay better, nice pics too
Wow! I was really taken back with this picture, great work!
Absolutely amazing. I’ve never heard of anything like it. I’m glad I tracked down the story to your page, because dailymail.co.uk didn’t do a great job describing the actual events. Well done.
Thanks Megan, glad you looked me up and glad you enjoyed the full story. Pity the papers decided to tell it in a different way and sensationalise it, despite them having the entire story at their fingertips but that’s the media for you 🙂 anything to sell a paper.
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Wow, I´m amazed how much media can change one story. I´m from a small country named Estonia, (it`s near Finland and Russia) and in the article here they say that the hippo saved the wildebeest by taking its neck between its teeth (whitch it did) but instead of saying that the hippo drowned the wildebeest they say that the hippo lifted the wildebeest on the shore and left it there. So I´m glad I got to know what really hapened on your page! 🙂
Awsome pics and it must have been one great experience! (Y)
wow…. one of the most enthralling tales i have come across in a long time. And the photography is incredibly well done, immediately inspired a series of paintings i want to do, thank you for sharing this with the world!!!!
What lovely sequenced photos and a beautiful yet sad story. Well done sir.
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