This hippopotamus was a bit more adventurous than his counterparts, walking up to get a better look at us. Unfortunately, the flash from my camera scared him right back to the safety of the pod. Mouse over the picture at the right to see him as he quickly turns to run from my camera's flash. We happened to be stopped for tea in a hide when this hippo rolled over the first time. We grabbed our cameras and waited 25 minutes for him to do it again.
Hippos open their mouths wide in a yawning threat display as a sign of dominance.
Their loud wheeze-honking is one of the loudest of all African animal noises. More humans are killed by hippos each year than any other animal in Africa. The water is their safe place. You never want to come between hippos and their waterhole.