![]() ![]() The answer to this question is still unknown. Some say that it would take at least two lions to take down a hippo, while others believe that more lions would be necessary. This is a question that has puzzled people for years. How many lions does it take to beat a hippo? ![]() It’s also possible that the ancient Egyptians revered the hippopotamus as a deity since it was one of the few creatures that could kill lions. However, several reports of adult hippos being killed by crocodiles have been reported. This is apparently a rare event, as adult hippos are too large and powerful for crocodiles to kill quickly. Hippos are also threatened by crocodiles, especially Nile crocodiles, which sometimes prey on their young.Ĭrocodiles have been seen to break into submerged caves inhabited by female hippos and eat their calves. However, it has also been documented that an attack may follow during daytime when the lion leaps onto the back of a resting hippo and forces it underwater until it drowns. Lions usually hunt hippos at night by stalking them silently until they can pounce on their prey. Hippos have become a meal for some lions during these times, but it is sporadic that a lion will attack a hippo. Yes, they do, but the number is not significant enough to impact the hippo population.Īccording to this source, big cats sometimes prey on hippos in hyperphagia. When hippos have been known to eat humans, it is usually because they were already dead or injured. When this happens, it is usually because the hippo is defending itself from a person or people it feels threatened by rather than consuming a human. However, they have been known to become man-eaters on occasion. The short answer is no, hippos don’t eat people on purpose. Hippos are herbivores who eat grasses, dung, and aquatic vegetation. So if you are ever in Africa and come across a hippo, be sure to give them a wide berth and remember that they are one of the most dangerous animals in the world. They have even been known to attack boats with other hippos who do not belong in their environment. Hippos are also particularly dangerous from March to May, the end of the mating season. In addition, young children are more likely to be victims because they cannot swim as fast as adults since hippos are more likely to attack from the side rather than behind. Victims often report that the attack happened without any warning and that the hippo came out of nowhere.ĭue to their territoriality and tolerance of humans, hippos should be avoided at night or after dark. Since hippos have very poor eyesight, they use their excellent sense of hearing and smell to locate prey. However, they have also been very playful and curious animals which can sometimes lead to unsuspecting people being attacked.ĭuring a hippo attack, the victim will be submerged underwater and then bitten repeatedly on their head, neck, and body. When hippos attack, it is either out of defense or territoriality most of the time. lions is an average artifact however, I think it is small enough to neglect in the following discussion. The more significant number of human fatalities due to hippos vs. There is such a thing as “rare events,” which seems to be the case with both animals. Since the data analyzed below are just averages, it is not clear that hippos kill more than lions if one considers individual fatalities. Lions kill an average of about 200 people a year. Hippos kill an average of 500 people a year, which is more than any other large animal. The most comprehensive data set I could find was for hippos. Reports of human fatalities caused by animals in scientific journals.Fatal animal encounters reported on Wikipedia.Reports of human fatalities caused by animals in the news.It’s hard to draw the line when determining which deaths should be attributed to an animal and how much.įor these reasons, my sources consisted in part of:.There is a social stigma associated with certain kinds of animal fatalities (for instance, croc attacks in Africa),.People tend to die in remote places where they are not found,. ![]() Such data are not readily available for several reasons: I needed data on fatal encounters between humans and potentially dangerous animals to answer it. ![]() While the idea of a hippopotamus as a man-eater is as old as Herodotus, how many human fatalities they really cause is an interesting question.
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