CNN
—
Paul Templer was enjoying life to the fullest.
At 28, he was leading tours in his home country of Zimbabwe, specifically focusing on photographic safaris.
After being away for several years, including time spent in the British army, he returned to Africa’s wilderness, “and rekindled my passion for it. The wildlife, the plants, the animals, the great outdoors, the vastness – everything about it felt like home.”
Templer mentioned that Zimbabwe’s certification for guides was quite demanding, and the guides who succeeded took great pride in their achievements. He delighted in showcasing the region’s impressive wildlife – particularly the water-loving and fiercely protective hippos.
“It was paradise,” he recounted to CNN Travel. “Life was truly wonderful – until one day I faced a really tough day at work.”
A perfect day for a river expedition
March 9, 1996. It was a Saturday. Templer learned that a close friend, who was supposed to guide a canoe safari down the Zambezi River, had contracted malaria. He consented to take his friend’s place. “I adored that stretch of the river. It was a region I knew intimately.”
The group included six safari clients (four Air France crew members and a couple from Germany), three trainee guides along with Templer. They operated three canoes – clients sat in the first two canoes while a guide occupied the back. An apprentice guide was in a single-person safety kayak.
And they journeyed down the renowned Zambezi River. “Everything was unfolding as expected. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.”
Potential trouble ahead
Eventually, they encountered a pod of around a dozen hippos. This was not surprising on the Zambezi, the fourth longest river in Africa. Initially, they weren’t alarmed as they were far away. However, “we were getting closer, and I was attempting to go around the hippos safely. … The plan was to simply paddle around the hippos without incident.”
Templer’s canoe was leading the group, with the other canoes and kayak following behind. He steered into a small channel to wait for the rest to catch up. However, the third canoe lagged behind and was not following the intended path. Templer was unsure how this occurred.
“Suddenly, there was this loud thud. The back of the canoe was sent flying into the air. And Evans, the guide seated at the back of the canoe, was thrown out.” The clients somehow managed to remain in the canoe.
“Evans fell into the water, and the current began pulling him toward a female hippo with her calf about 150 meters [490 feet] away. … I knew I needed to rescue him quickly. There was no time to drop off my clients.” He called out to Ben, another guide, to get the clients from the canoe that had been attacked.
Ben managed to bring the clients to safety on a rock situated in the middle of the river where hippos were unable to access.
Attempted rescue
Meanwhile, Templer turned his canoe around to reach Evans. The intention was to pull next to him and drag him into Templer’s canoe.
“I was paddling towards him … getting closer, and I saw a wave forming toward me. If you’ve seen old films showing torpedoes approaching a ship, it resembled that. I was aware it could either be a hippo or a very large crocodile coming my way,” he recounted.
“But I also realized that if I splashed my paddle on the water … that creates a loud noise. The underwater percussion generally makes the animals retreat,” he added. “So I splashed the water, and as expected, the wave dissipated.”
He was drawing closer to Evans, but they were also nearing the female hippo and her calf.
“I leaned over – it felt like a scene from a Hollywood film – Evans was reaching up. … Our fingers nearly touched. Then suddenly, the water between us exploded. It happened so quickly I couldn’t see anything.”
What unfolded next was horrific and surreal.
“I entered an abyss of darkness and an unusual silence.” Templer noted that it took him a moment to understand what was happening.
“From the waist down, I felt the water. I knew I was wet from the river. Above my waist, however, was different. I felt warmth and it wasn’t damp like the river, but it wasn’t dry either. There was immense pressure on my lower back. I tried to move but couldn’t.
“I understood I was halfway down a hippo’s throat.”
Hippos: Massive, territorial and perilous
There’s a significant reason a fully grown hippopotamus can swallow a large portion of a fully grown adult whole. Hippos can grow to lengths of up to 16.5 feet (5 meters), heights of 5.2 feet (1.6 meters), and weigh as much as 4.5 tons (4 metric tonnes), according to National Geographic.
They possess enormous jaws and can open their powerful mouths to an angle of 150 degrees.
Their teeth may be the most terrifying feature of all. While their molars are designed for plant consumption, their knife-like canines, which can measure up to 20 inches (51 centimeters), serve the purpose of defense and combat. Their bite is nearly three times more powerful than that of a lion, with the capability of potentially slicing a human body in half.
Their natural habitat is across various regions of sub-Saharan Africa, chiefly in Eastern and Southern Africa, primarily inhabiting or residing near rivers and other water sources. (They also constitute an invasive species in Colombia, with origins tracing back to escapees from drug lord Pablo Escobar’s zoo).
Hippos are highly territorial and may aggressively attack any animal entering their domain, including lions, hyenas, and crocodiles.
Hippos and humans
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They can also be lethal to humans. That’s a definite fact. Many online sources estimate around 500 deaths each year, but the actual number remains obscure since many incidents and fatalities occur in very isolated regions without official reporting.
“The question I receive most frequently when people discover I research hippos is: ‘Is it true that hippos kill more people than any other animal?’” Rebecca Lewison, a conservation ecologist and associate professor at San Diego State University, mentioned in an email interview with CNN Travel.
“I’m not fully aware of where that notion originated, but … there is no reliable data or authority. People are taken aback that hippos can kill humans. They appear slow and are primarily found in water. Though there are nonfatal encounters, both people and hippos tend to suffer during such interactions.”
Dr. Philip Muruthi, chief scientist and vice president of species conservation and science for the African Wildlife Foundation, indicated that the AWF also lacks a credible source regarding the frequency of attacks or fatalities.
While more statistics need to be gathered, one study has indicated that the likelihood of dying from a hippo attack ranges from 29% to 87% – surpassing that of being killed by a grizzly bear at 4.8%, a shark at 22.7%, or a crocodile at 25%.
‘He spit me out’
Those odds of survival weren’t in Templer’s favor.
“I suspect I was lodged so deep in its throat it must have been uncomfortable, which is why he spat me out. I popped up to the surface, gasped for fresh air, and found myself face to face with Evans, the guide I was trying to save. I exclaimed, ‘We need to get out of here!’”
But Evans found himself in grave danger. Templer began to swim back to him “and as I reached for him, I was suddenly struck from below. So once again, I was halfway down the hippo’s throat. But this time, my legs were constrained while my hands were free.”
He attempted to retrieve his firearm, but due to the violent thrashing, he couldn’t grasp it. The hippo – revealed to be an older, belligerent male – expelled Templer a second time.
“When I resurfaced this time, there was no trace of Evans.” Templer presumed Evans had been saved and sought to escape himself.
“I was making good progress, swimming along, and as I turned to take a stroke, I peeked under my arm – a vision I will never forget – there was this hippo charging towards me with its mouth agape before it collided directly with me.”
This time, Templer found himself perpendicular in the hippo’s mouth, legs dangling out from one side while his shoulders and head were on the other side.
Utter fury
“And that’s when he became wild. … When hippos engage in combat, they aim to dismantle and annihilate whatever they’re attacking,” Templer explained.
“Fortunately for me, it felt like everything was in slow motion. So when he submerged, I would hold my breath. When I surfaced, I’d inhale deeply and cling to the tusks that were tearing into me to avoid being split apart.”
Templer noted that one of the clients later described the horrific scene as resembling a “vicious dog trying to shred a rag doll.”
He estimated that the entire ordeal lasted about three and a half minutes.
Meanwhile, apprentice guide Mack, in the safety kayak – “displaying remarkable courage while risking his life to save mine – maneuvered his boat inches from my face.” Templer managed to grasp a handle on the kayak, and “Mack pulled me towards the safety of a rock.”
Nonetheless, the expedition remained in complete disarray.
Who gets attacked and why
Local residents living near hippo habitats are more frequently victims of attacks than tourists, according to Lewison.
“Most attacks occur in water, but because hippos invade agricultural land, they also attack individuals trying to protect their crops. While tourists can be involved, the majority of the assaults happen to local inhabitants,” Lewison stated.
The increasing human encroachment, driven by Africa’s expanding population exacerbates the situation, raising the likelihood of fatal encounters, she explained.
Regardless of the unfortunate encounters, sub-Saharan Africa relies heavily on hippos.
“Hippos are vital ecosystem architects in the freshwater environments they occupy. This comes from nutrient recycling due to their dung (they consume considerable amounts of vegetation),” explained Muruthi.
“Hippos do not attack to consume humans, but rather to drive them away,” Lewison clarified. “I don’t believe hippos are inherently aggressive, but when they feel threatened, they will strike.”
Trapped on a rock and in a tight spot
Elevated on the rock in the Zambezi, Templer inquired about Evans’ whereabouts. Mack replied, “He’s vanished, man, he’s simply gone.”
Templer realized he needed a strategy to get off the rock and reach the riverbank, but “first I had to collect my thoughts.”
He took stock of the circumstances: One man missing. The first aid kit, communication device, and firearm all lost. Six terrified clients, two canoes, and a single paddle remained. Additionally, his own body was severely injured.
“My left foot was particularly damaged; it appeared as if someone had struck a hole in it with a hammer.” He found it impossible to move his arms. One limb from the elbow down was “mangled beyond recognition.”
Blood was trickling from his mouth. It was clear his lung had been punctured. Mack rolled Templer onto his side and noticed a large wound in his back, which he covered with cling film from a snack plate.
Templer made the decision: Regardless of the dangers, they needed to leave that rock.
He was loaded into a canoe. Ben took up the paddling. The hippo continued to bump against the canoe. He transitioned from a state of terror to calm during that return trip.
He described “a deeply spiritual moment when I felt a tremendous sense of tranquility and realization that this was my pivotal moment of decision. Should I go or stay? Should I shut my eyes and drift away, or should I battle through this and persist?”
