A two-year-old boy was swallowed and spat out by a hippo while playing near his home by a lake in Uganda.
Paul Iga was clenched in the mouth of a hippo around 800 yards away from the edge of Lake Edward.
The hippo ‘grabbed… the boy from the head and swallowed half of his body,’ the police said, according to The Telegraph.
But a brave local, Chrispas Bagonza, fortunately witnessed the incident and began throwing stones at the hippo in an attempt to stop it.
Paul Iga was clenched in the mouth of a hippo just a few hundred yards away from the edge of Lake Edward, Uganda
Paul Iga, two, was gulped down and spat back out by a hippo on the edge of Lake Edward, Uganda (file image)
The hippo seemed taken aback by this and vomited up the toddler — after swallowing half of him — before trudging back to the water.
‘It took the bravery of one Chrispas Bagonza, who was nearby, to save the victim after he stoned the hippo and scared it, causing it to release the victim from its mouth,’ police added.
While Paul was injured and taken to a clinic for treatment, he miraculously survived the attack.
It is reported that the young boy was transferred to a hospital in Bwera but was released after taking a rabies vaccine.
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In a statement, Ugandan Police said: ‘This is the first such kind of incident where a hippo strayed out of Lake Edward and attacked a young child.’
Why are hippos so dangerous?
The hippopotamus is the world’s deadliest large land mammal, killing an estimated 500 people per year in Africa, according to the BBC.
Hippos are aggressive creatures, and have very sharp teeth.
At up to 2,750kg, they can easily crush a human to death.
Despite their primarily vegetarian diet, the hippopotamus is extremely aggressive and territorial.
The combination of sheer size, sharp teeth, and mobility both in and out of water make for a killer animal.
They are agile and aggressive and kill large animal and sometimes humans.
A yawning hippo, although it might look cute, can be a sign of a threat.
Over the years hippos have been spotted eating impala, kudu, eland, wildebeest and buffalo.
They are very protective of their habitat, normally dwelling in rivers.
In Niger in 2014, 13 people drowned when hippos overturned their boat.
