Rare footage of a crocodile in the Mara River of Kenya was captured eating a baby hippopotamus' corpse. Whether the crocodile got a stillborn or killed the baby remains unclear.
Crocodile Thrashes Newborn Hippo
The baby hippo appeared to still have its umbilical cord linked to its body when the crocodile held the hippo's body with its jaws and thrashed the corpse around the area.
The incident was filmed by Frankie Adamson from the Mara River's banks. Adamson is a wildlife photographer who served as a resident photographer for the Governors' Camp Collection safari operator.
Adamson explains that it is widely acceptable that crocodiles will not near nor threaten hippo adults, adding that she heard that these creatures could be opportunists and that they may take chances to get their jaws on babies.
When the event happened, Adamson was alerted by a colleague. Adamson explains that by the time she approached, the crocodile was already holding the baby hippo in its jaw. She notes that she was quite certain that the baby was already dead.
Adamson then expressed the questions she had in her mind regarding the matter, as she wondered if the crocodile killed the hippo, or if the baby was a still-born and that its carcass was later on snatched. She noted that she saw that the umbilical cord was still linked to the hippo's body.
According to Adamson, no other hippos were in this particular river section. Initially, the crocodile was still under the water as it held the hippo carcass with its jaws. The crocodile then started thrashing the corpse around after being disturbed by catfish. It began to carry the corpse out of the water and thrash it around quite violently.
She said that she witnessed the crocodile with the baby hippo for roughly 45 minutes. However, she did not see the crocodile feed on the carcass. Later on the crocodile swam away with the baby hippo.
Crocodiles and Hippos
When crocodiles want to kill their prey or chunk it into smaller pieces, they thrash their hands from one side to another.
Nile crocodiles (Crocodylus niloticus) can span up to five meters in length. They are opportunistic and aggressive predators at the apex. These crocodiles typically feed on fish, but they still target land mammals including buffalos, impalas, and zebras.
Adult hippopotamuses (Hippopotamus amphibius) can grow up to five meters in length and be as heavy as 4,500 kilograms. With this, these creatures can easily kill crocodiles.
While crocodiles may sometimes prey on the calves of these hippos, they have to face the risk of getting attacked by the mother hippopotamus.
Governors Camp Collection explains that it is quite infrequent for these apex predators to snatch away baby hippos, adding that these crocodiles will typically avoid hippos as they are familiar with the aggression of angry hippos.
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