Remembering a Touching Nature Story from 10 Years Ago
Photography captures timeless memories, engraving moments in our hearts forever. Revisiting old images can evoke the emotions felt at that time, especially when they tell a special story.
Ten years ago, while leading a trip with CNP Safaris to the Chobe River, we experienced an unforgettable encounter. Venturing downstream, heading back towards Kasane, we noticed a motionless hippopotamus on the riverbank, its head resting on what looked like a rock. As we got closer, we saw it was her very young, deceased calf.
The grieving mother hippo showed all possible signs of aggression towards an intruding large hippo by spraying her feces, baring her teeth, and dripping saliva. The intruder, though large, stayed in the water and eventually moved away, avoiding a direct confrontation with the distressed mother.
The Hippo is deemed the most dangerous animal in Africa, and a mother with a dead calf would certainly top the danger list. Hippos usually have one baby after an eight-month gestation period and keep the newborn away from the main pod for a few months to protect it from territorial battles or being accidentally crushed by other hippos. We speculated that the calf might have been killed in a fight between adults, or perhaps by a male hippo eliminating future competition—though the latter is less common.
We stayed with the grieving mother as long as we could before park regulations forced us to leave. She remained by her dead calf, a poignant image of loss and maternal love.
The next morning, we returned to the area to see if any predators had been attracted to the carcass. We found two other hippos standing over the body. A very large female was mouthing the carcass, revealing bite marks and exposed entrails. The mother emerged from the reeds across the water and immediately lifted her head, staring at the intruders. The two hippos moved towards the rest of the pod, while the mother displayed aggressive behaviour and charged at an individual, leading to a fierce fight. Another hippo attacked her from behind, and a third joined in, chasing her until she found refuge in deeper water.
Everything calmed down after that, and we had to leave the pod. The fate of the calf and the reasons for the pod’s aggression towards the mother remain mysteries. This heartbreaking story of nature’s raw and unfiltered reality has stayed with me ever since.
In light of advances in editing technology, I revisited my old images from that day. Below is a before-and-after comparison between the 2014 and 2024 final edits, showcasing the power of modern editing tools. I encourage you to dust off your old hard drives and re-edit your favourite images—you might be pleasantly surprised by the results.