Depressed Hippo Walks Away When He Realizes He Can’t Win Against These Lions

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Our pets are some of our best friends in life. They are often very capable of being an emotional support system for us. And vice versa, we are often that emotional help that they also need to deal with their emotions. However, it isn’t just domestic animals that have emotions and feelings. Let’s see how this hippo feels in the video above. 

Viewer discretion is advised: the above video contains graphic content of lions violently killing a hippo. Video may be unsuitable for young viewers or those sensitive to blood and gore. 

Lion Pride Vs. Massive Hippos in South Africa

The YouTube video posted at the top of this blog post takes us to the Pilanesberg National Park located in South Africa. The Safaris 4ever YouTube page shared this video on their platform and it has gained more than 700,000 views. This channel shares footage of African animals such as elephants, rhinos, hippos, and lions. 

Hippo Tries to Intervene

At the start of this dramatic video, we see a single hippo has been taken down by three lions. From the looks of this hippo, it is a calf. The San Diego Zoo Animals and Plants shares that “Lions have been known to take down hippos, but it depends upon how many lions, the age of the hippo, and how far it is from the water.” Calves are especially threatened by predators. This is because of their size and inability to fight back like a full-grown hippo would be. 

The lions are in the process of hooking their claws and sinking their teeth into his body. A few feet away in the water, three grown hippos are watching in horror as their young one is being brutally tortured. 

One of the hippos continually tries to intervene, but each time he does, a lion goes to face him. They are willing to defend their meal. By the end of the video, we see that the other two hippos have willingly left, and the last one knows there is nothing he can do. 

Do Animals Feel Depression? 

Depression is not just a feeling but rather a condition that seriously affects how we feel, think, and act. According to the National Institute of Health, “While symptoms such as guilt, suicidality, and sad mood are likely to be purely human features, other aspects of the depressive syndrome have been replicated in laboratory animals.” 

If the calf had been this hippo’s offspring, it is very possible this hippo could have had deep feelings of depression. Hippos are territorial animals that are fiercely protective over their young ones. As we can see from the video above, this hippo tried its best to intervene but ultimately knew it was no match against three grown lions.