They say a mother will do anything for her child, even if it means putting herself in danger.
In this case, an adult hippo was launched several metres into the air as it held its ground against an aggressive male elephant, giving its calf time to run to safety.
Surprisingly, she emerged relatively unscathed from the attack, suffering nothing more than a small cut on the side of her body and a badly bruised ego.
A mother hippo was thrown several metres into the air as she held her ground against an aggressive male elephant, giving her calf time to run to safety.
The scene was captured by wildlife photographer Rian Van Schalkwyk, 40, at the Erindi Private Game Reserve in Windhoek, Namibia.
“I felt incredibly privileged to see this. I spent a lot of time in the bush, but this was the most spectacular scene I have ever witnessed, I couldn’t believe it,” said the South African.
Van Schalkwyk, who works as a family doctor in Rundu, a small town in northeastern Namibia on the border with Angola, was spending a long weekend at the reserve with his wife Bonnie and many other members of his family.
The spectacular scene unfolded on Sunday after lunch, when all the other guests had returned to their rooms to sleep.
Ouch: Despite the strength of the a.tgask, the mother hippo emerged relatively unharmed, suffering only a cut on one side of her body.
Take this: A male elephant charges a female hippo as her calf runs to safety, at the Erindi Private Game Reserve in Windhoek, Namibia.
Don’t make him angry: Hippo rolls after angry elephant throws her in the air
Don’t make him angry: Hippo rolls after angry elephant throws her in the air
From a restaurant viewing platform overlooking a waterhole, the photographer and his loved ones got a private view of this incredible animal interaction.
“I was taking pictures of the hippos in the water, but because of the current drought, the staff came and put some grass for the hippos, because they have nothing else to eat,” Van Schalkwyk said.
“About twenty hippos immediately came out of the water and began to graze.
“The next moment, a large male elephant came running out of the bush, also heading for the grass.”
Initially, the elephant was happily grazing alongside the hippos, but became agitated and flapped its ears frantically when they began venturing closer.
Charge: The hippos came closer to comfort the elephant who was happily grazing next to them at first.
Baby hippos run for safety while the mother takes the full force of the elephant.
The scene was captured by wildlife photographer Rian van Schalkwyk, 40, at the Erindi Private Game Reserve in Windhoek, Namibia.
When the mother hippo in the pictures got too close, the elephant decided to take drastic measures.
Although adult female hippos can weigh more than 1.5 tons, the cow was dwarfed by the male elephant, who could easily swing her around with his trunk.
“He landed on his back and rolled 360 degrees down the embankment into the water,” Rian said.
“Afterwards, the elephant just stood there and shook its head. The hippo retreated into the water. The calf fled to the other hippos and the mother stayed in the water for about five minutes before coming out.
‘It was incredible. It happened so fast, and elephants are incredibly fast over short distances.
“I felt so sorry for the mother who was trying to protect her babies. It was very moving to see her go so far, to stand her ground against a much larger animal.
“You could see from her whole demeanor that she was quite bewildered, even the elephant seemed to be thinking about what he did.”
The mother and calf were quickly reunited but far from being compassionate, the pack acted aggressively towards her and she was forced to retreat with her calf and stay apart from the group.
The elephant’s mood didn’t improve much as he carried out a handful of mock attacks on other hippos before venturing into the waterhole to chase away some sunbathing crocodiles.
The grumpy giant then took a dust bath before departing, leaving the hippos to finish grazing in peace.
“For me, it was the experience of a lifetime,” Van Schalkwyk said.
“I felt privileged to see such animal behavior, but I also felt sorry for the mother. We all stood there for a while without speaking, just looking at the scene.”