Bloody battle of the hippos: 3,000-pound giants tear chunks out of each other as they fight for supremacy in Kenya

 This is the incredible moment two 3,000-pound hippos tore chunks out of each other as they fought for supremacy in the Mara North Conservancy in Kenya.

Brutal pictures captured the bloody battle as the fighting hippos locked jaws together for half an hour, sending spit and blood gushing from their mouths. 

In one image, one hippo brutally impaled the other with his ivory tusk, as the fight neared its conclusion before one made a dash for the river with the victor in hot pursuit where the savage fight continued.  

The intense images were shot by wildlife photographer Mike Dexter, 35, from Durban, South Africa, who took the photos from around 65-feet away, using a Canon 5D MK IV and a 100-400mm lens.

Posting the photos on his Instagram page on September 7, photographer Mike who witnessed the fight summed it up in one word, writing: 'Brutal. The word running through my mind as I watched these hippo bulls tear into each other for half an hour.

'Hippos have a certain notoriety and hold the highly contested position as the animal that kills the highest number of humans in Africa each year. 

'Males are highly territorial and dominion over prime river real estate is fiercely contested. Most altercations are resolved through impressive displays of size and power and seldom escalate to this degree of physicality, but when they do the consequences can be fatal.

'Two days after this battle the bloated body of a similarly sized individual was found floating a couple of kms downstream in the Mara River.' 

This is the incredible moment two 3,000-pound bull hippos locked jaws in a bloody battle for half an hour as they fought for supremacy in the Mara North Conservancy in Kenya

This is the incredible moment two 3,000-pound bull hippos locked jaws in a bloody battle for half an hour as they fought for supremacy in the Mara North Conservancy in Kenya

Brutal pictures captured the bloody fight as the angry hippos locked jaws together for half an hour, sending spit and blood gushing from their mouths

Brutal pictures captured the bloody fight as the angry hippos locked jaws together for half an hour, sending spit and blood gushing from their mouths

The intense images were shot by wildlife photographer Mike Dexter, 35, from Durban, South Africa, who took the photos from around 65-feet away, using a Canon 5D MK IV and a 100-400mm lens

The intense images were shot by wildlife photographer Mike Dexter, 35, from Durban, South Africa, who took the photos from around 65-feet away, using a Canon 5D MK IV and a 100-400mm lens

In one image, one hippo brutally impaled the other with his pointed tooth (pictured), as the fight neared its conclusion before one made a dash for the river where the fight continued

In one image, one hippo brutally impaled the other with his pointed tooth (pictured), as the fight neared its conclusion before one made a dash for the river where the fight continued

Posting the photos on his Instagram page on September 7, photographer Mike who witnessed the fight summed it up in one word, writing: 'Brutal' - before revealing that two days later the bloated body of a similarly-sized hippo was found floating a couple of kilometers downstream in the Mara River

Posting the photos on his Instagram page on September 7, photographer Mike who witnessed the fight summed it up in one word, writing: 'Brutal' - before revealing that two days later the bloated body of a similarly-sized hippo was found floating a couple of kilometers downstream in the Mara River

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