Man Forced into Tree After Hippo Charge

Occurred on June 8, 2020 / South Africa

Info from Licensor: I'm from South Africa in the Mpumalanga province. I was checking the fence line in a game reserve as a routine. I suddenly heard bushes and branches breaking and as I looked behind me it was coming straight for me. As you may know, hippos are the biggest killers in Africa after the mosquito. I saw his eyes were locked onto me so I ran like hell and jumped in the tree. Luckily I had a 15m head start but man those fatties are fast. Just as I pulled myself up in the tree his Jaws snapped right where my feet were. I remember the long white tusks. Very sharp. The tree wasn't that big as you can see its thickness in the video. It was a close call. I escaped death and magically managed to take a video. There are swear words in there though. I had to wait for 40min (felt like 40 years) before it was safe to go down. He was biting the tree and was going crazy underneath me. The only logical explanation of the charge was that I accidentally walked into its territory.