Hippo Powerfully Smashes Watermelon in Single Bite in Incredible Viral Video
This is one hungry, hungry hippo.
Viral footage of a ravenous hippopotamus cracking open a watermelon in one powerful bite has amazed animal lovers online.
The incredible video was initially posted by the San Antonio Zoo in Texas on June 9. To celebrate the warmer weather, the hippo's caretakers decided to treat the massive animal to a summer fruit staple.
A hippo smashed open a whole watermelon in San Antonio Zoo in Texas. The hippo is then seen sharing the fruit feast with his companion. pic.twitter.com/z2mYVPHTMA
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) June 12, 2021
As seen in the video, a zoo employee calls over one of the hippos in the exhibit. The hungry animal opens its enormous mouth, patiently waiting for the treat through the enclosure's bars.
"All right, ready?" the employee asks. Her coworkers respond on behalf of the famished hippo with a resounding, "Ready!"
One of the zookeepers then gently places a whole watermelon in the hippo's mouth. Eager to cool down with a refreshing treat, the hippo smashes open the watermelon in a single, powerful bite. Video editors also slowed down the footage at the moment he cracks the watermelon into two pieces.
The sweet video ends as the hippo and his companion in the exhibit munch happily on their treat. The zookeepers are heard laughing off-camera after their coworker placed a large chunk of watermelon in the hippo's mouth, only for him to drop it to the ground and take a piece of the other hippo's snack.
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"What better way to kick off summer than a good old-fashioned hippo watermelon smash?!" the San Antonio Zoo captioned the now-viral video, which has since been viewed over 61,000 times on Facebook. Viewers were overwhelmed with the "sweet" interaction.
"Looks EXACTLY like how my kids eat it! Maybe even a bit cleaner!" one viewer joked in the comments. "It literally is a bucket list item for me to feed a hippo a watermelon," another wrote.
One commenter asked if the hippos liked their watermelon "with yellow mustard," referencing the online trend that has people on TikTok enjoying their fruit with the savory condiment.
Eagle-eyed viewers and longtime fans of the hippos at the San Antonio Zoo identified the hippo who smashed open the watermelon as Timothy, and his companion as Grandma Uma.
"Timothy and Grandma Uma are really enjoying their watermelon," one viewer wrote. Another teased that Timothy's messy eating was "no way to impress Fiona," the beloved female hippo over at the Cincinnati Zoo in Ohio.
The San Antonio Zoo subsequently posted a photo of Timothy enjoying the watermelon, along with his "love letter" to Fiona.
"Dear Fiona, I told you I love watermelons! I look forward to the day we can share one together. Sincerely, Timothy," the photo's caption read.
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Several also acknowledged that they would not want to upset a hippo, given that it could chomp down on a watermelon with such force. "Wow, the jaw power is just incredible, how many other animals could do that?—it's a good thing that Timothy is such an easy-going Hippo," one noted.
Newsweek reached out to the San Antonio Zoo for comment on the viral video but did not immediately hear back in time for publication.
In other watermelon news, a man has caused a massive online upset after he made a pizza with a watermelon. Some became so heated over the culinary experiment that they compared it to a "war crime."
