--- title: Hippos Save Gnu from Crocodile Attack description: Video shows hippos saving a gnu from a crocodile in the Masai Mara game reserve in Kenya. canonical: https://time.com/21520/watch-hippos-rescue-gnu-from-crocodile-attack/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-03-12T18:04:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:07:43.523Z og:title: WATCH: Hippos save gnu from crocodile attack og:description: The video is just starting to go viral og:url: https://time.com/21520/watch-hippos-rescue-gnu-from-crocodile-attack/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8ad01e305e380511/6986851e13c79f0aaa190fd5/screen-shot-2014-03-12-at-1-49-19-pm.png?branch=production&width=228&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 228 og:image:height: 128 og:image:alt: Screen Shot 2014-03-12 at 1.49.19 PM og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: WATCH: Hippos save gnu from crocodile attack twitter:description: The video is just starting to go viral twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8ad01e305e380511/6986851e13c79f0aaa190fd5/screen-shot-2014-03-12-at-1-49-19-pm.png?branch=production&width=228&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # WATCH: Hippos Rescue Gnu from Crocodile Attack > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=1685bba6-fd24-4e5b-a65f-6d604a69481b&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Mar 12, 2014 6:04 PM UTC  by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Mar 12, 2014 6:04 PM UTC Based on footage shot in 2012 that appeared on [_The Daily Mail_](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2578257/Hip-hip-hooray-Hippos-fight-crocodile-attacking-gnu-escort-animal-safety.html)‘s website this week, photographer Vadim Onishchenko was visiting the Masai Mara game reserve in Kenya when his camera caught a gnu whose internal GPS had lead him into the mouth of a hungry crocodile. The attack was also witnessed by a group of hippos, who decided not to just sit idly by photographing the assault, but to do something about it. Perhaps they were hungry (hungry) for justice? Whatever the reason, the hippos sprung into action, scaring off the crocodile and ushering the startled gnu to the relative safety of dry land. Onishchenko caught the whole surprising rescue mission on camera and has a theory as to why the hippos might have leaped to the gnu’s defense. He told [MailOnline](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2578257/Hip-hip-hooray-Hippos-fight-crocodile-attacking-gnu-escort-animal-safety.html): “I’ve heard of cases where the animal’s instinct is to protect other species, I think the hippo’s parental instincts took over.” Still, be careful about getting too close to hippos. Remember the guy [who got swallowed by one](http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/05/07/man-swallowed-by-hippo-lives-to-write-about-it/) (and lived to tell the tale)? **MORE**: [Crazed Pet Cat Holds Family Hostage and Forces Them To Call 911 For Rescue](http://time.com/20197/crazed-pet-cat-holds-family-hostage-and-forces-them-to-call-911-for-rescue/) **MORE**: [Man Swallowed by Hippo, Lives to Write About It](http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/05/07/man-swallowed-by-hippo-lives-to-write-about-it/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/21520/watch-hippos-rescue-gnu-from-crocodile-attack/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/21520/watch-hippos-rescue-gnu-from-crocodile-attack/"},"headline":"WATCH: Hippos Rescue Gnu from Crocodile Attack","datePublished":"2014-03-12T18:04:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:07:43.523Z","description":"Hippos to the rescue!","url":"https://time.com/21520/watch-hippos-rescue-gnu-from-crocodile-attack/","keywords":["Newsfeed","animals"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8ad01e305e380511/6986851e13c79f0aaa190fd5/screen-shot-2014-03-12-at-1-49-19-pm.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8ad01e305e380511/6986851e13c79f0aaa190fd5/screen-shot-2014-03-12-at-1-49-19-pm.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Screen Shot 2014-03-12 at 1.49.19 PM","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/21520/watch-hippos-rescue-gnu-from-crocodile-attack/","name":"WATCH: Hippos Rescue Gnu from Crocodile Attack"}}]}] ```