Moment enraged hippo chases down and attacks boat full of terrified tourists by repeatedly biting its outboard motor in Namibia
This is the terrifying moment a charging hippo attacked a boat full of tourists by repeatedly biting into the outboard motor with its huge jaws.
The boat trip was traveling along Namibia’s Chobe River on March 22 and came across a group of hippos bathing in the water.
Witnesses claim the skipper had approached the group from a ‘safe distance’ when a large male hippo suddenly charged towards the boat.
The skipper sprang into action and tried to escape, but the boat grounded in shallow water, leaving him at the mercy of the enormous marine mammal.
The hippo opened its huge mouth and began chewing on the boat’s outboard motor, cracking the plastic surrounding it.
Jackie Boshoff, who was on the river trip at the time of the incident, said she “couldn’t actually believe what was happening before my eyes.”
On March 22, a boat trip was traveling along the Chobe River in Namibia when a group of hippos were bathing in the water. Witnesses claim the skipper had approached the group from a ‘safe distance’ when a large male hippo suddenly attacked the boat
The hippo opened its huge mouth and began chewing on the boat’s outboard motor, cracking the plastic surrounding it.
Boshoff, 55, recalled how the boat approached the group of hippos in the same way “our skipper always does, and has done for over 13 years in this canal.”
She explained that the pod “is known to be aggressive at times” and that the skipper is “always alert to that kind of behavior.”
“We were quiet on the boat and not making much noise, and the engine was off when we approached them from a safe distance,” Boshoff said. “Then suddenly, out of nowhere, a certain male hippo started chasing the boat.
“When our skipper realized there was a potential problem with him hitting the boat, he turned the boat around and took off.
‘But because he was looking at the hippo and not at the front of the boat, we went into shallow water and the propeller got stuck in the mud.
‘It was only when we viewed the footage later that we were able to see what appeared to be a small calf following the male hippo as it attacked us.
The photo shows the hippo swimming away after chewing on the tour boat’s engine
She added: ‘It could have been a very young calf and he was just super protective of his young.’
Boshoff noted that everyone on board “actually remained very calm” and said they were lucky that “no one panicked.”
She has described the whole experience as shocking and unbelievable, saying: ‘You hear and read about things like this and never think it could happen to you.’