Terrifying moment hippo attacks tourist boat sinking its huge teeth into vessel after charging across Namibia river
SHOCKING footage captured the terrifying moment an angry hippo chased and attacked a boat packed with tourists before sinking its gigantic teeth into the vessel.
The wild beast charged at the tour boat while it was cruising down the Chobe River in Namibia.
While moving in the river, the boat came across a pod of hippos bathing in the water.
As it slowly approached them from what witnesses claimed was a safe distance, a giant male hippo suddenly charged at the vessel.
The boat’s captain quickly ramped up his efforts to move the boat and escape the beast’s attack but failed to do so when the propeller got stuck in the shallow water.
Shocking footage showed the male hippo opening its huge mouth before sinking its teeth down the boat and obliterating the outer motor.
It also chomped off chunks plastic on the boat’s body while making a dangerous sounds.
Jackie Boshoff, one of the tourists onboard the vessel said she was left shocked and “couldn’t believe what was happening” in front of her.
She explained that it was a routine job for the skipper to approach such a pod of hippos, adding the skipper did it “how he always does – and has been doing for over 13 years in this channel”.
The boat’s captain, who was highly alert throughout the ordeal, apparently shut down the engine to reduce noise while approaching the pack of hippos.
But the tourists said it was one “aggressive male hippo” who started chasing the vessel before attacking it.
She added: “We were quiet on the boat, not making a lot of noise, and the engine was off as we approached them from a safe distance.
“Then suddenly one particular male hippo began chasing the boat out of nowhere. When our skipper realised the hippo could hit the boat, he turned the boat and headed away.
“But because he was watching the hippo and not the front of the boat, we went into shallow water and the propeller got stuck in the mud.
“Only later when we reviewed the footage could we see what appeared to be a small calf following the male hippo as it charged us.”
In 2022, an angry hippo was seen lifting up a calf in its powerful jaws and throwing it back into the water in a horrifying snap.
The dramatic photograph shows the wild animal clamping its mouth around the helpless calf, sending blood and water spraying everywhere.
Meanwhile, a safari guide who was savagely attacked by a hippo revealed how he survived being swallowed by the huge beast.
Paul Templer was leading a small safari tour of six people down the Zambezi River in his native Zimbabwe when the life-changing encounter unfolded.
Boating near the country’s famous Victoria Falls in 1996, he jumped to attention when the animal knocked one of his pals out of his canoe.
“As I paddle towards him, the hippo was coming towards me under the water and the ripples on top looked like a submarine torpedo cutting through the water,” he told 7 News.
“So I turned towards him (his pal) and tried to grab him, and it was like something out of a movie because our fingers almost touched and then everything just went dark.
“It happened so quick that I had no idea what the hell was going on.”
At this point, Paul realised that he was stuck in the beast’s throat – with no means of escape.
He described the hippo’s putrid breath smelled like “rotting eggs” and his throat and mouth were “warm and slimy.”
However, quick thinking Paul knew he needed to agitate the animal so it would let him go and spit him out.
“I was so far down his throat, and I’m not a small guy,” he said.
Paul was eventually rescued by one of his friends, taken to shore and eventually received treatment at hospital.
Tragically, his friend who was knocked from his canoe by the beast, drowned.
Looking back, Paul described the experience as a “bad day at the office,” despite incurring life-changing injuries.
