HEART-STOPPING footage has captured the moment a rampaging hippo flipped a safari boat in a savage show of force.
The beast launches out of the water, capsizing the boat and throwing a conservationist onboard into the water.
Two other conservationists, one armed with a tranquilliser gun, jump to their feet as they watch on in horror from a nearby raft.
Footage shows the man scrambling from the water to safety on top of the upturned vessel.
The chaotic scenes played out in a dam within a national park in South Africa.
Conservationist group, The Digital Ark, were attempting to catch the hippo which had escaped from a nearby farm with its calf after extreme flooding.
The group intended to shoot the hippos with dart guns before loading them into specialised trailers to be transported back to safety.
The footage has now been viewed more than 14,000 times, sparking fierce interest online.
Andre Pienaar, one of the conservationists who witnessed the shocking incident took to Facebook to post a stark warning.
In a caption under the video he wrote: “Hippos are responsible for more human fatalities in Africa than almost any other large animal… and today we’re reminded why.
“During this darting operation, the hippo charged and flipped our boat, throwing a team member into the water and capsizing the vessel completely.
“This is not staged. This is real wildlife work.”
The incident is the latest in a terrifying string of hippo attacks.
In 2024, an aggressive male hippo chased and attacked a boat packed with tourists in the Chobe River in Namibia.
Shocking footage captured the moment the animal lunged at the tour boat before sinking its gigantic teeth into the vessel.
The boat’s captain quickly ramped up his efforts to move the boat and escape the attack but failed to do so when the propeller got stuck in the shallow water.
It was only later when they reviewed the footage that guides noticed what appeared to be a small calf following the male hippo as it charged.
Meanwhile, a safari guide who was savagely attacked by a hippo revealed how he survived being swallowed by the huge animal.
Paul Templer was leading a small safari tour of six people down the Zambezi River in his native Zimbabwe when the life-changing encounter unfolded.
Boating near the country’s famous Victoria Falls in 1996, he jumped to attention when the animal knocked one of his pals out of his canoe.
“As I paddle towards him, the hippo was coming towards me under the water and the ripples on top looked like a submarine torpedo cutting through the water,” he told 7 News.
“So I turned towards him (his pal) and tried to grab him, and it was like something out of a movie because our fingers almost touched and then everything just went dark.
“It happened so quick that I had no idea what the hell was going on.”
At this point, Paul realised that he was stuck in the beast’s throat – with no means of escape.
Paul was eventually rescued by one of his friends, taken to shore and received treatment at hospital.
Looking back, Paul described the experience as a “bad day at the office,” despite incurring life-changing injuries.