James Armstrong took the photos above when he and his friends went to the Klaserie Game Reserve Private wildlife sanctuary. 

At that time, the weather was hot and the temperature increased, causing  the giant hippo  to submerge 4/5 of its body underwater to cool down, revealing only its big, wide and sturdy back. The young fish mistook the hippo’s back for a rock and crawled up.

James Armstrong said that when he started taking photos, he did not realize the truth. However, after a few minutes of careful observation, James noticed something unusual and discovered that the young crocodile was lying on the back of the giant hippo without even realizing it.

The moment the hippo felt moved and moved its body, the baby crocodile “stopped” in fear. It lay quietly on the hippo’s back and waited for everything to pass smoothly.

 Seemingly too scared, the young crocodile did not dare to move. Meanwhile, the giant hippo didn’t seem to care much about the young crocodile’s confusion, it remained submerged underwater and calmly.

 Mistaking a hippo’s back for a rock and leisurely lying on it basking in the sun can be a fatal mistake, costing the crocodile his life.

 Living together in the river, hippos and crocodiles have had many life-and-death clashes, with most victories going to the giant hippopotamus. 

Although known as the death crocodile, famous for its thousand-pound bite, due to the large difference in size and weight, crocodiles often lose to the most ferocious hippos in the world.

When encountering drought, falling into the hippo’s battlefield, crocodiles always have no choice but to endure the battle and eventually die in front of the hippopotamus’s terrifying attacks.