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S38E10: Hippos: Africa's River Giants | Clip

Hippos Fight Off Hungry Birds

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When water runs low during the dry season, thousands of hippos are forced to share the same pool, where tensions run high. The stress hits its peak when flocks of hungry birds attempt to use this pool as a feeding ground, getting in the way of the hippos and turning the pool into a war zone.

TRANSCRIPT

- [Narrator] The shrinking pools have also trapped fish.

And they attract fishermen.

(exciting music) Pelicans arrive in the thousands.

This number of birds could clean out a pool in just a few days.

So, the fish eagles need to get in first.

(birds squawking) The fish gather in shoals around the hippos for safety.

But, the fish eagles aren't easily put off.

The hungry pelicans move in closer.

And a feeding frenzy begins.

(pelicans squawking) The hippos are already stressed.

And this frenetic activity is too much for some of them.

(hippos grunting) They become increasingly territorial.

And irritable.

(intense music) One bull loses his temper and over reacts.

The crocodiles make a meal of the casualties.