This photographer was passing through a Zambian National Park when he captured these cute photographs of a baby hippopotamus being scared by a flock of birds landing on its back.
When woodpeckers paid a visit to one of the cubs, the photographer directed his camera at a herd of hippos.
«I was focussing on a bloat of hippos when I noticed the infant racing in terror with his pursuers on his back,» the photographer said.
When the hippopotamus began to cry, go to its mother, and writhe from side to side, trying to shake off its predators, he began taking images.
«When I initially saw this hippo racing towards me and escaping from the water, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. «Then I discovered it was a little flock of woodpeckers,» the photographer explains.
«Watching it was a lot of fun.»
Hippos and woodpeckers normally have a symbiotic relationship in which the birds consume the hippopotamus’s ticks and other parasites.
The hippopotamus is provided with free care, while the bird is provided with free food.
However, it appears that the baby hippopotamus in this case has not yet realized the full benefits of such a partnership.
«I couldn’t believe what I was able to capture in the frame,» the photographer adds.
«I adore this little guy’s expression as he desperately tries to fend off what he thinks to be unpleasant pests.»
