'My A** Would Be Running': Hippo Climbs Over Enclosure Wall in Viral Video

Terrifying footage that shows the moment a hippopotamus climbed the wall of its zoo enclosure has gone viral.

The video was posted in Reddit's "Interesting As F**k" forum on Monday by u/eziorobert. It's not known for certain where or when the incident was filmed. However, YouTube account Paws Channel alleged last month in a video that the now-viral moment took place at a zoo in New Delhi, India.

Regardless, the video has garnered more than 24,000 upvotes on Reddit and over 4 million views on YouTube. The Reddit post also received over 1,100 comments from concerned viewers who argued that the hippo's enclosure isn't large enough to contain the notoriously "dangerous" animal.

The video opens with the hippo perched on the wall of its enclosure, which is simply a pool of water surrounded by some fencing and stone. Crowds of people gather and watch as a security guard approaches the mammal and slaps it in the face. The slap causes the hippo to open its mouth wide at the guard, who walks to the other side of the hippo's face and slaps it again.

For about 30 seconds, the guard repeatedly hits the hippo's face, until finally, it recedes back into the water.

"That enclosure is asking for someone to get chomped wtf were they thinking," wrote Reddit user u/Caziusz.

"Yeah that's a sh***y enclosure design. It's a disaster waiting to happen," replied u/Thick_Huckleberry788.

"One of the most dangerous animals on the planet and they have an enclosure that is as effective as a child's playpen," added u/TruthsNoRemedy.

The BBC previously defined hippos as "the world's deadliest large land mammal," and explained that they kill "an estimated 500 people per year in Africa."

Last February, it was reported that a hippo in Zimbabwe bit and subsequently trampled an elderly man to death. Inspector Kudakwashe Dhewa with the Masvingo Police told The Herald at the time that the hippo appeared "from a nearby thicket" and bit the 81-year-old victim's leg before he could run away. Once the man had fallen to the ground, the hippo began trampling him.

"Hippos are highly aggressive and are well-equipped to deliver considerable damage to anything that wanders into their territory," the website Live Science said of the creatures, adding that "conflicts between humans and hippos also occur when hippos wander onto land in search of food."

Some Redditors theorized that the hippo seen in the now-viral post was likely looking for food, prompting one commenter to say: "Good thing the Hippo was so nice about the situation or this would've been a different kind of video."

Considering how dangerous hippos are, some commenters were stunned by the crowd's apparent lack of fear.

"The spectators here are totally ignorant of a hippo's speed, strength, and ability to kill them. My a** would be running far away from there as fast as I could," said u/TheElusiveHolograph.

Redditor u/Worried_Example agreed, adding: "Why aren't those people running?"

Last summer, a video from the San Antonio Zoo in Texas shows a hippo smashing a watermelon in a single bite went viral. "What better way to kick off summer than a good old-fashioned hippo watermelon smash?!" the zoo captioned the now-viral video.

Meanwhile, a hippo named Fiona from the Cincinnati Zoo in Ohio has also amassed a worldwide following with her "signature sass."