Strange animal behaviour: Hippo cannibalism caught on camera in South Africa

Scientists have captured one of the first cases of cannibalism in hippopotamuses on camera.

In times of famine, some animals go to desperate measures to stay alive, including eating members of their own species.

Now scientists have captured one of the first cases of cannibalism in hippopotamuses on camera.

The grisly photographs show a hippo eating a corpse of another floating in a river in South Africa's Kruger National Park.

They were taken by biologist Leejiah Dorward while on safari last year.

He told National Geographic: 'I was completely amazed. It was something I had never heard of.'

Having returned to London, the PhD student discovered that cannibalism in hippos has only been described once before, in 1999.

While hippos are herbivores, other scientists have seen them deviate from their diet of grasses and the occasional aquatic plant to feast on impala - a medium-sized antelope.

The other instance of hippo cannibalism occurred during a severe drought.

Dr David Pfenning, a biologist at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, explained that cannibalism is one way for creatures to get all the nutrients they need in one convenient package.

When Mr Dorward recorded the act of cannibalism, he noticed that the region had lush grass (seen in this image) which makes up the bulk of a hippo's diet.

For example, Mormon crickets migrate on mass during food shortages and if one stops marching, others will devour it, because their fellow katydid is a good source of protein and salt, needed by the insects.

However, animals that feast on their own species run the risk of catching a disease.

Most animals usually only resort to eating their own species during times of extreme hardship, when the risk of catching a disease is less then starving to death.

Crocodiles, for example, are known to eat their young when there is no other food available and sometimes scavenge corpses.

However, when Mr Dorward recorded the act of cannibalism, he noticed that the region had lush grass. The event was documented in the

To solve the mystery of why the hippo ate the corpse, he wants to document other cases of cannibalism in the species in Africa.

'Because the behaviour is so rare, we are relying on others to report it,' he said.

WHAT DO HIPPOS EAT?

Hippos leave water at dusk to travel up to six miles (10km) inland to graze on grasses. They spend almost all the rest of the time in rivers and lakes.

Grass is their main source of food, and they consume around 150lbs (68kg) of it every night, over around five hours.

They occasionally eat aquatic plants.

There have been reports of hippos eating impala and carrion but their stomachs are not suited to a meaty diet and meat eating is thought to be driven by drought and desperation.

Hippos are born with sterile intestines and require bacteria obtained from their mothers' faeces to digest vegetation.

Chomsky: We Are All – Fill in the Blank.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://bit.ly/1xcsdoI.