A newborn hippopotamus was terrified by a swarm of birds descending on its back when this photographer took these adorable pictures of it while traveling through a Zambian National Park.
The photographer focused his camera on a herd of hippos when woodpeckers visited one of the youngsters. The child was running in panic with his pursuers on his back while the photographer was concentrating on a group of hippos, he added.
He started snapping pictures as the hippopotamus started to scream, go to its mother, and wriggle from side to side, trying to shrug off its predators. «I couldn’t believe what I was seeing when I first saw this hippo coming at me and escape from the water.
When I looked closer, I saw that it was a small flock of woodpeckers, the photographer said. Viewing it was enjoyable. In a typical symbiotic connection, woodpeckers eat the ticks and other parasites that hippopotamuses carry. Free care is given to the hippopotamus, and free food is given to the bird.
The newborn hippopotamus in this instance doesn’t seem to have fully reaped the rewards of their alliance, though. The photographer continues, “I couldn’t believe what I was able to capture in the shot.” I like the expression on this little guy’s face as he struggles to ward off what he perceives to be nasty parasites.