Angry Hippo Charges Tourists, Nearly Capsizes Boat

Don't be fooled by their girth -- hippos are speedy creatures, especially in the water.

Case in point: This hippo, who lives on Botswana's Chobe River and had no qualms about charging a safari boat that ventured a little too close to its territory.

YouTuber David Jackson says his son, Craig, captured this footage on his iPhone, and added that the hippo was actually much closer to the boat than it seems in the video.

Peekaboo!

A fully-grown hippo can weigh as much as 6,000 pounds and can capsize boats that threaten its territory. On land, the mammal can reach speeds of up to 14 miles per hour, as this video of a hippo attacking a jeep makes clear.

According to the Wildlife Conservation Society, there are an estimated 125,000 to 150,000 common hippos in the wild, which represents a 20 percent population decline in the last decade. The animal is particularly susceptible to poachers, who hunt hippos both for meat and for the animal's ivory tusks.