This was my first look at this series the Animal Planet Network's new "Mutual Of Omaha's Wild Kingdom" has in which they pit two animals against each other. It's not literal - there is no "match" in which the two animals actually fight each other, but they make it a contest with 10 categories. They grade each animal on which is better in each category and then total up the scores to see who is the winner.
This contest had two big and scary contestants: the hippopotamus verses the Nile Alligator. The place: Zambia, Africa. The following 10 categories comprised this "Rumble In The River:"
1 - Weapons; 2 - Feeding; 3 - Locomotion; 4 - Climate; 5 - Size; 6 - Parent Power; 7 - Teamwork; 8 - Natural Born Killers; 9 - Enemies; 10 - Final Showdown.
Some of these categories may not sound like much, but they were very interesting.
Some of the memorable scenes or statements:
The hippo can open his huge mouth with jaws almost 180 degrees apart and a few of his teeth are two feet long.....If his breath doesn't kill you, his teeth will!......The hippo can run 30 miles per hour if it needs to sprint. Not bad for a 7,000-pound animal.....Climate greatly affects the alligator. It needs heat, which is why you see them bathing in the sun for hours. If cold, the reptile almost loses its eyesight....Alligators are much better team players.....Hippos are very aggressive and kill at least 200 people each year. Gators kill at least 100.....The Nile Alligator can hold its breath up to one hour underwater.....the greatest threats to each or members of their own species. These involve almost all the fights (i.e. hippos vs. hippos) but the biggest threat to their existence are humans, of course. There are about 150,000 hippos left in the wilds and about a half million of these alligators.....Only one in 50 baby alligators survives. Many times other gators eat all the young.
Who wins? Watch the program; it's an absolutely fascinating one. You will never forget some of the images you see of these two scary beasts. Just hope that you never run into either one of them!
