Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi there i was woundering if anybody thinks that possibly a megalania prehistoric monitor or a raptor or how about a komodo dragon if the first 2 were still in exsistince could kill a adult male Hippopotimus cause according to the wild life shows the crocodile can,t get it done right now the hippo is king please say it aint so theres got to be some type of reptile that could kill an adult male hippo
any input would be great
sincerly Justin

Hi Justin,
You seem to have an adverse admiration in hippos? Hippos are essentially a Pleistocene pig - but very dangerous. I believe they kill more people than crocs do! Those 3 foot long incisors bite a man in half if they wish it.

To answer your question: Yes, Megalania (Varanus prisca), Komodo monitors (Varanus komodoensis), Flores monitor (Varanus floriensis), and Baltic monitor (Varanus marathonensis) did feed on pygmy hippos - does that count? Where you find pygmy hippos Varanus were/are nearby. The pygmy hippos were on Komodo and Flores, and Sumatra and in the Mediterranean Sea on Crete and Cyprus and surrounding territories.

The saliva of a living komodo monitor (V.k.) is lethal and if it could get its saliva into the living adult hippo, which I doubt, it could potentially kill it via infection.

cheers,
mbayless

hello thank you for that info that helps

That has been hunted in Africa for a few years or so now to capture him with no luck. With video throughout the show positively verifying his existance and his young and adult hippo killing and eating habits hes an estimated 25ft or more.
I remember the video footage of him swimming up to a family of hippos, both the babies and adults gave way to him (he was HUGE!!), in fact a freshly dead hippo body with his huge bite marks was showed. A pair of huge traps were made specifically to try capturing him. I wish I could remember the show and get a copy of it.

Hi Shvar,
You're talking about "Gustav" who lives on the Rufiji River in Tanzania - he is a whopper at 25 feet long - they did say he is the only crocodile known to take down adult hippo - but seems to prefer chewing on humans which he does not always eat, but just chews on abit....Gustav has 'issues' with humans!

That was/is a good nature program to be sure.
markb

Do with his attitude to people, as well the scar from a poachers harpoon, and other rifle rounds that have struck him in over 100 years.

np

The croc was called Gustave, and he indeed did kill various adult hippos. Given enough time, a crocodile can grow to become a hippo-killer.

I found this to be a very odd question, but there are prehistoric crocodilians much larger than today's. I am sure one of them could feed off a male adult hippo.

If you include dinosaurs in your question (I know, they aint reptiles, but you did mention a raptor), then the list grows for sure. A raptor, probably not, as like the wolf, they are not as scary when alone. The whole tyrannosaur family however would have no problem feasting on hippo's.

Here's another question. Who here grew up wanting to be a paleontologist, only to realize that living animals were so much more fun!

Hi Joey,
There are reports of just such a huge crocodile in central Africa and it is called the 'Mahambo' (Roy Mackal. 1987. A search for the Mokele-Mbembe)....and other anecdotal stories of huge crocs - that reportedly take down hippos, elephants and whatever else they can grab. Such a huge animal would probably have to remain in the water most of the time, and be very old. Many tribes in Africa still worship animals (= Totemism, Animism) and that includes the crocodile, Varanid, Eagles, etc.).

Many of our business C.E.O.'s do this here in USA = their Totem is greed, graft, = M.O.N.E.Y.

Cheers,
mbayless

My whole childhood was spent wanting to be a paleontologist. That is untill I realized that I would have to stay in school many extra years, and then work in the field with a pick. LOL

Utan in Myrtle Beach is not as big as Gustav but when I stood next to him I thought he could kill most anything he wanted to.
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Ed

These heat lamps make my electric bill to high.

Do a google search on Gomek. He was a salt-water croc. Different part of the world, but he could have killed a hippo I bet. Unless he was too fat lol.

Yai-jai, on his 19th birthday the CB estuarine/siamese hybrid croc was 19 3/4 feet long!! Wait till you see the outdated picks of him from over 5 years ago next to his birthday cake. I watched a video on him with the trainer kissing him on the nose, riding his back, and hand feeding him tiny little fish, his head is over 40 inches long!! I seem to remember him weighing around 3000 lbs, maybe more. Hes the largest croc ever in captivity, you can see him on the komodo tours in Indonesia.
Of course Gustav the 25ft nile croc thats been wild for over 100 years in Africa (Tanzania) is much bigger and heavier. They failed at trapping him with 2-50ft long traps, of which he dragged one underwater destroying the infared camera, as well stealing the bait.

http://www.digistream.co.za/shark.html

Theres a picture of a smaller croc thats freakin massive. I can only guess Gustav resembles the one from "Placid Lake" in size.
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He is over at Alligator adventure around 20 foot long and over 1 ton, he is also a hybrid.