Watch This Elephant Herd Gently Wake Sleeping Hippos

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Do elephants and hippos get along? The answer can be found in this fascinating video footage posted by YouTube user Wildest Kruger Sightings. In the video, a herd of hippos (including calves) is peacefully sleeping on a riverbank. A herd of elephants (also including calves) approaches the sleeping group.

As the elephants walk by on their way to the watering hole, they keep some distance from the sleeping hippos. Although, in the end, they pass by fairly close. One little elephant in particular seems curious about the hippos, walking right up to them to stop and stare. The scene remains calm as the hippos slowly awaken and begin to stand up.

Is it normal for an elephant and hippo encounter to be this peaceful? Do they generally get along, or are there times the two groups fight? Read on to find out.

Hippo Behavior: Do Hippos Live in Groups?

While most people know that elephants travel in herds, you may not know that hippos are also very social animals. They form herds of about 10 to 30 individuals. They spend most of their day in the water even though they can’t breathe underwater. However, they often sleep underwater by coming up to breathe at intervals. They also can sleep almost fully submerged but with their nostrils out of water.

Although hippos mainly sleep in water because it’s where they have the advantage and feel safest, they are known to take a snooze on land from time to time, which is just what the hippos in the video were doing.

Are Elephants and Hippos Friendly With Each Other?

Both elephants and hippos are herbivores, and neither has any reason to attack the other. However, any animal, even one as peaceful as an elephant, can get aggressive when it feels threatened. Hippos are more aggressive than elephants and can easily feel threatened when their territory is invaded.

This group of hippos likely realized they were outnumbered and outsized. Additionally, the elephants were slow and peaceful, giving no signs of threat or agitation. The only tense moment happened when one elephant calf approached the hippo group with curiosity. But the little elephant’s mother or aunts likely signaled for the little one to leave the hippos alone.

Hippos and Elephants Sometimes Fight Each Other

Though it’s rare, there are videos online and encounter stories of hippo and elephant fights. The elephants have a clear size advantage. Elephants are the largest land mammals. Adult male African elephants can weigh up to 14,000 pounds. Hippos on the other hand can weigh anywhere from 2,200 to 9,900 pounds.

Despite the size difference, hippos have sharp teeth with incredible force. But elephants can use their tusks to impale enemies. Both could do considerable damage with stomping.

In one story, a wildlife photographer encountered an unusual scene where an agitated elephant attacked a mother hippo. A group of hippos was grazing grass alongside an elephant but got too close for the elephant’s comfort. The elephant flipped the mother hippo into the air as her baby ran for safety. Fortunately, nobody was hurt and the mother hippo reunited with her baby after the attack.

Are There Certain Times This Encounter May Not Have Been As Peaceful?

When water is plentiful, animals have no reason to get aggressive at the watering hole when they encounter fellow herbivores. But wildlife experts say that late in the season when the water and food decline, hippos may grow more aggressive over resources.

Why Were There So Many Birds Resting on the Hippos?

Another thing you may have noticed in the video was a flock of birds hanging out on top of the resting hippos. Small birds, like oxpeckers and cattle egrets often hang out on the backs of larger animals, such as elephants and hippos.

It’s a mutually beneficial relationship. The birds feast on mites, lice, and ticks, helping keep them under control for the larger animals while the birds get to eat. Wildlife experts also believe that the birds can warn their hosts of threats by squawking when a predator approaches.

Do Elephants and Hippos Have Any Natural Predators?

While baby elephants and hippos are vulnerable to lion or crocodile attacks, grown adults of both species are too large for most predators to take on. However, lions have been seen hunting elephants when no other food was around.

Sadly, both hippos and elephants are in danger from human poachers. Poachers kill elephants for their ivory tusks. Hippo teeth are made of the same material but are easier to obtain and are also legal. Sadly, hippos’ teeth are replacing elephant tusks in the ivory trade and are both legally and illegally traded.