This is the astonishing moment two angry hippopotamuses brutally attacked each other after the younger animal tried to enter the older bull’s territory.
The hippos, which each weigh about 1.5 tonnes, thrashed about with their mouths snarling at each other in a desperate fight for dominance
The animals locked heads and thrashed about in the water during the brutal encounter over territory at Kruger National Park in South Africa
At one point, the older hippo lunged at the younger bull and pushed it under water in the territorial row at South Africa’s biggest national park
The fight occurred when the older bull lashed out after being taunted by the younger animal. The older hippo won after the younger retreated
Chris Martin, a wildlife photographer from Ripon, North Yorkshire, caught the ferocious fight on camera with his incredible pictures showing the herbivores baring their teeth at one another and clashing heads.
Chris Martin, a 51-year-old wildlife photographer from Ripon, North Yorkshire who works in the South African national park for several months a year, caught the ferocious fight on camera with his pictures showing the animals baring their teeth at one another and clashing heads
Mr Martin, who spends nine months of the year working in South Africa’s biggest national park based in the north east of the country, said hippos will always ‘defend their territory at all costs’. Pictured: The hippos thrash it out using their jaws and teeth in the row over territiory
The younger hippo eventually gave up on the fight after realising he would not be able to defeat the older bull, who is stronger and heavier
‘The lack of rainfall has meant that many of the reliable water sources and rivers have remained dry, or with limited water for the duration of what would normally be the rainy season.