Hippo Wars: Two bulls fight tooth-to-tooth after younger male tries to enter older hippo's territory

The incredible pictures were taken by nature guide Stacey Farrell during a hippo and crocodile safari in Northern Kwazulu, South Africa.

The hippos, which weigh around 1.5 tonnes each, are pictured thrashing around in the water and snarling at each other in a brutal fight over territory.

The pair set upon each other at iSimangaliso World Heritage Site after a new male hippo took over the pod.

After constant probing by the younger bull, the elder hippo decided to retaliate.

Tour guide, Stacey, 30, said: “This is usually a very playful and relaxed family with many youngsters.

“A new male has taken over the pod and he is not tolerate of the youngsters and we often find him attacking them with absolutely no reason.

"It is rather common for male hippos to attack offspring, especially males, as they see them as a threat to their family.”

Although it is not an uncommon occurrence for adult hippos to attack youngsters, these attacks can often be so serious that the youngsters are killed.

Stacey has spent the last 14 years working at the heritage site and often spends hours a day with the African mammals.

She said: “We are very fortunate in St Lucia, where the heritage site is based, that our first three families of hippo have been very tolerant of the boats and allow us to get very close.

"We are able to witness behaviour that wouldn't be normally shown to us by typical hippo families.

“The hippos live in family units know as pods or rafts. They are rather nervous animals, laying very close together.

"Unfortunately they have very short tempers so fights break out very quickly and with big males having tusks reaching close to 60cm in length, fights can often end very badly.”