Turns out you probably don’t want a hippo for Christmas… because they have some pretty dangerous biters — just ask the British tourist who ended up in one’s mouth, and then in hospital.
Roland Cherry — a 63-year-old British man — was canoeing in Zambia as part of a five-week African safari… when he says a hippo attacked his boat and engulfed him in its teeth.
Cherry — who spoke to British channel Sky News — said his wife Shirly swam away from the animal in search of safety… but Cherry dislocated his shoulder when the hippo struck him and was unable to escape the temperamental animal.
Easy prey for the hippo… which, according to Roland, dragged him to the bottom of the river before inexplicably releasing him.
RC finally made it to shore… where he looked down and saw his thigh was “badly chewed up.” He couldn’t see the wound in his abdomen at the time because of the life jacket he was wearing — so he didn’t fully realize how serious his injuries were.
Cherry says he’s lucky to be alive… adding that one of the surgeons who operated on him said he’d never met anyone who had survived a hippo attack before, although they’re more common in the region than many people realize… and the hippo is the world’s deadliest large land mammal.
It looks like Cherry is going to make a full recovery… and he’s probably grateful that this particular hippo wasn’t hungry, hungry.