Angry hippo charges terrified tourists on safari in Botswana

Terrified tourists captured the moment an angry hippo attacked a safari boat in Botswana.

The scary picture was taken when the protective mother rounded on the tour when they got too close to her calf.

Rob Masterton and his wife Jessica Masterton-Smith were on a safari cruise through the Chobe National Park, Botswana, when the massive mammal pounced.

As part of a two-month African expedition, Jessica had spotted a baby hippo in the river and their tour guide turned the boat to take a closer look.

The extremely protective mother launched herself out of the water, teeth baring, before the vessel could finally escape her jaws.

After making it to dry land, the couple examined their photos and only then did they realise how close they had come to being caught by the angry monster.

Rob told Caters News: "When the mum jumped out of the water she had a really mean look on her face – it was terrifying.

"We'd spotted the calf and the mum close-by so our guide moved us closer.

"I'd moved to the back of the boat for a cigarette when we realised the mum had disappeared.

"Suddenly her nose came out of the water and her gaping jaws were only about five metres away from me.

"Luckily the driver realised we were too close and sped away but the mum didn't give up – she was so fast.

"We finally got away but at one point she would only have been about two or three metres from being caught."

"Once we'd got on to dry land I couldn't believe I'd managed to get such good pictures."

Rob and Jessica, from Farnham, Surrey, had been on a two month trip through Africa and had previously nearly been attacked by elephants in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania.