That's Why the Hippopotamus is the most Dangerous Animal.

Who do you think should be most feared in Africa? Well, of course, in addition to tsetse flies and mosquitoes, hungry prides of lions, cunning leopards in the trees, or at least the insidious Nile crocodiles probably immediately come to mind. But no, the desire to become invisible should appear immediately upon meeting this leisurely fat man. You are on the Animal Instinct channel and today we are reviewing perhaps the deadliest animal in Africa, the hippopotamus. Sit back, we're starting!
Largely thanks to the cartoon. In our understanding, a hippopotamus is a kind animal that lives somewhere in Africa, leads a quiet, secluded lifestyle and eats grass, fruits or plants. However, not all of this is true. Hippos actually live in Africa and inhabit areas south of the Sahara, located directly in the territory of water bodies. They are simply huge animals, sometimes weighing more than nine thousand pounds, and hippos, along with rhinoceroses, are tied for second place as the largest land animals on the planet. And you are unlikely to confuse a hippopotamus with someone else, because the massive body on short legs and the huge head of the animal are difficult to confuse. Its head, by the way, is so large and heavy that it can weigh up to a quarter of the mass of the beast, and its legs are so short that its belly literally touches the ground. Some strange beast, you might say, that should hardly even be able to walk, let alone be a danger to others. But no matter how it is. Hippos are the most dangerous animals on the continent, from which, according to various sources, from one thousand to three thousand people die every year. And few other animals would dare to come close to their possessions. The giant's main weapon is its mouth, which opens to an angle of up to 150 degrees and contracts with a force of up to two hundred and fifty pounds per square inch. This is wider than any other mammal. It costs nothing for a hippopotamus to break the bones of an animal that falls into this vice. And he deals with watermelons as easily as a man with grapes. But that’s not all, because in his mouth there are simply huge fangs. For example, the lower ones can be up to fifteen inches long and weigh six pounds each. They grow in a hippopotamus all its life and sharpen from each other every time it closes its mouth. And in addition, the hippopotamus is armed with incisors, the lower of which resemble daggers and grow horizontally up to six feet in length. So the herbivore got a formidable weapon. By the way, if a hippopotamus loses its upper fang, then the lower one stops sharpening, grows constantly and can reach twenty-three or more inches. So, we've sorted out the weapon, let's now look at its speed. And here it can surprise absolutely everyone, because despite its short legs, this tank is capable of accelerating up to eighteen miles per hour, so it’s unlikely to be able to escape from it. In addition, this is a real all-terrain vehicle that moves well through deep mud and will be unlucky for any animal that gets in the way of the hippopotamus. And he swims well in the water, or rather moves, because hippos do not know how to swim, they, one might say, simply run along the bottom, pushing off from it with their feet. Of course, it looks very graceful; it’s not for nothing that the ancient Greeks called them water horses. But be that as it may, the speed of movement of hippos in water is also impressive. Adults can stay underwater for up to 10 minutes and will appear in front of you literally out of nowhere. And it would be nice if these were calm animals, but no, hippos are real aggressors who fly into a rage for literally any reason, and even their visible smile is pure physiology. All their free time they think about only one thing, who to fight with. They fight for everything: for territory, for a place in the dirt and, of course, for the house. In hippopotamus society, everything is arranged in such a way that only one male has the right to reproduce and all the females in the herd are his harem, and the males are unquestioningly submissive bachelors. The right to be the leader of the herd is achieved through constant fighting, and only 10 percent of male hippos have such power. But sometimes the thirst for one’s own territory and the desire to get at least part of the females overcomes fear and confrontation begins. Hippos first demonstrate their strength by opening their mouths wide, and if this does not help, then the fight cannot be stopped. The animals collide with each other again and again, revealing sharp fangs and trying to wound the enemy with incisors and daggers. This is a very dangerous battle, because hippos can receive severe and even fatal injuries. But no one is in a hurry to give up. In the end, the winner defended his right to be the leader of the herd, and the loser will be expelled from it forever. A solitary wandering awaits him until he decides to take on the challenge once again.