I was watching a nature program and (this is the second time on a different nature program)
The elephant comes on thru and the lions and hyenas clear out fast. Even the little ones make the lions and hyenas run
Now it takes THREE hippos to stare down ONE female lion. Why? we are talking 4000 pounds of toothed hippo to one one lioness (what could she weigh 300# max)
Two hyenas harass this massive rhino and his buddy. The guy has this huge horn, why didn’t therhino just gore him?
The elephants seen to actively go after lions and hyenas.
Elephants aren’t especially “tuff” compared to the other two. They are however more aggressive in some circumstances. A lone Elephant(normally they travel in herds) would be a rouge male, probably quite aggressive.
With the three hippos, was this on land or in water? Hippos on land are rather awkward and unsure of themselves(to the extent that a 1 foot high wire, or rope, strung up around a garden will keep them outl-Hippo fences) If they were on land then yeah, they probably wouldn’t be that intimidating to a female lion.
Finally, Rhinos are big and slow to react(though they can build up to quite a bit of speed), also they have rather poor eyesight( best way to avoid a charging rhino? move 3 feet to the right). This is probably why the hyenas(small, quick moving predators) were able to harass them like that.
Yeah, agility is probably a big part of the equation. I once watched a rhino couple attempt mating at the Houston Zoo. The guy would charge and get up some speed and sort of jump as well as rhinos do and go ballistic and… miss. I watched for an hour and left worried about the rhinocerous’ viability as a species.
Sorry, I don’t usually comment on typos (I sure make enough of them) but this one put such a mental image in my head I can’t help it. Would a rouge elephant be one of those “girly man” elephants? Would a lion or hyena be afraid of it because of homophobia or because of all animals, it would seem that elephants would be world class felchers?
“You can be smart or pleasant. For years I was smart.
I recommend pleasant.”
Elwood P. Dowd
Rhinos don’t actually use their horns very often. Mostly in mating and territorial disputes. And hippos, they can run fast, but I’m sure aren’t very maneuverable. Elephants, on the other hand, kick ass. A well-placed kick could easily kill a lion or hayena. And it would be very hard to kill an elaphant. A few bites and scratches to their legs are not gonna do much. But one could conceivably open up the gut of a smaller creature.
The other theory I have is this: Hippos and rhinos are not pack animals. Elephants most difinaley are. Safety in numbers. A few predators aren’t gonna do much to a herd of elephants.