Few of us will ever see a spectacle like this in person, so it’s wonderful that a videographer was on sight to capture this zebra as it fights off 5 crocodiles and 1 hippo; it’s an incredible minute of Mother Nature doing what The Father designed it to do!
As the video begins, the zebra is bucking, jumping up and down with its hind legs. We can see its left hip has already been injured. A bright red, open wound is evidence that this battle has already started. By 5 seconds into the video, there are crocodiles approaching from both sides of the black-and-white striped equine’s head. This is not a fair fight!
The croc on the left tries to bite into the zebra’s face, and while also thrashing at yet another attacking from behind, the zebra clamps onto the crocodile’s upper jaw. The zebra’s got the reptile in a death grip, and, thankfully, that may keep the African horse alive!
The two dance-swim around a few turns, the crocodile’s mouth held open by the zebra’s, but by 27 seconds, the croc has freed itself from its prey. And there is now a whole team of slithering predators after their four-legged feast!
The zebra heads for the rocky bank and is making good progress, but at 35 seconds, we see a hippopotamus to the zebra’s left. And, even more threatening, one more crocodile is coming full throttle at the zebra’s neck.
Incidentally, the croc’s jaws can apply up to 3,700 pounds of pressure per square inch; the hippopotamus has a bite pressure of 2,000 pounds per square inch. With five crocs and one hippo in the water, there’s an incredible threat to the outnumbered horse. But, the zebra is using its primary defenses of kicking and biting to survive. And it looks like it just might!
The last swimming lizard latches onto the zebra, but only briefly before it is once again free. Bounding up from the water, the zebra makes its way to safety, even if a little shaky from the nasty gash on its rear. The entire scene is mesmerizing!
The lone zebra survives the deadly encounter, but life is hard in the wild, and there are surely more battles to come!
“God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.” Genesis 1:25