A pack of African wild dogs drink from a river, a large hippo attacks, and the dogs withdraw.

The African wild dog is a very aggressive animal, although the wild dog is not very large and may not seem as big as our domestic dogs. However, the pack nature of the wild dog makes them one of the most important predators on the African savannah, and some people even consider them to be the third top predator in the African savannah besides lions and hyenas.

Wild dog packs are strictly disciplined, preying on animals several times their size through strength in numbers and teamwork. Even a few lions that are left alone can be killed by a pack of wild dogs. They often attack other carnivores in their territory, such as some lone hyenas and leopards.

However, the wild dog population is declining and is now endangered. As habitat declines and habitats deteriorate, wild dog packs are shrinking in size, and even in many parts of Africa, packs are hard to see!

Some people think that wild dogs are as aggressive as honey badgers, but the number of individuals in a pack has dwindled to the point where they can’t make it through a challenge to a large predator, so they’re endangered.

A strong hippo had taken over a body of water and the pack was trying to get to the river to drink when they saw the hippo bathing in the water. Hippos are very territorial animals and will attack any creature that challenges their territory. So when the wild dogs and the hippos met, a battle was imminent.

The hippo opens its mouth to chase the dogs away, trying to get the dogs to leave the water. However, the wild dogs were not intimidated by the hippopotamus' power and did not hesitate to stand at the water’s edge, barking at the hippo. The hippo weighed more than all the members of the pack combined, and even if the dogs had swarmed the hippo, they would not have been able to defeat him. The hippo’s open mouth was large enough to swallow a single wild dog whole.

The dogs adopted guerrilla tactics, standing at the water’s edge barking and harassing the hippo, but not actually engaging him in direct combat. As the minutes ticked by, the grumpy hippo finally lost his patience and charged toward the dogs. The hippo’s weight was huge, but its impact speed was not slow at all, and if the hippo hit it, the wild dogs would surely lose their lives.

But the wild dogs were more agile, and when they saw the hippo coming, they began to retreat in an orderly fashion. By the time the hippo reached the spot where the wild dogs had been standing, the pack had already fled far away. Although the hippo’s attack was uneventful, the dogs seemed to understand that they could not defeat the hippo and would rather waste time than find a new place to drink. Eventually the dogs left the area and the hippo returned to the river to rest, and the fight ended in a victory for the hippo.