Hippos: Africa's River Giants

Weighing only 4% as much as an adult, a baby hippo is completely dependent on its mother. The pair stays isolated from the rest of the pod, allowing the calf to imprint on his mother and for the two to forge a vital bond.

When water runs low during the dry season, thousands of hippos are forced to share the same pool, where tensions run high. The stress hits its peak when flocks of hungry birds attempt to use this pool as a feeding ground, getting in the way of the hippos and turning the pool into a war zone.

The scent of a decaying hippo attracts all sorts of predators to the hippo's ground, where they must put up a fight to protect their own. The hippos prove that size does matter in the animal kingdom, as they fight off hyenas, lions and crocodiles.

Hippos have a formidable reputation, killing about 500 people across Africa every year. Few filmmakers have attempted to capture their lives in detail, but director Brad Bestelink was determined to take up the challenge.