Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards 2019: Preview c-adrian-hirschi-wildlife-photographer-of-the-year.jpg

A newborn hippo, just days old, was keeping close to its mother in the shallows of Lake Kariba, Zimbabwe, when a large bull suddenly made a beeline for them. He chased the mother, then seized the calf in his huge gape, clearly intent on killingit. After trying to drown it, he tried to crush it to death. All the while, the distraught mother looked on. Infanticide among hippos is rare but may result from the stress caused through overcrowding when their day-resting pools dry out. Amale may also increase his reproductive chances by killing young that are not his, triggering females to go into oestrus, ready to mate with him. Male hippos are also aggressively territorial, and brutal fights are not uncommon. If they feel threatened by an accidental encounter, hippos will also attack and kill humans

Adrian Hirschi/Wildlife Photographer of the Year