VIDEO: Wildebeest apparently rescued from crocodile by hippos, but is that really what happened?

Hippos (L) close in on crocodile (C) as it tries to catch wildebeest (R). (YouTube)

DUBAI: This is the dramatic moment a crocodile tries to drag a wildebeest into the water, but is stopped in its tracks by two hippos.
At first it looks like the large water loving creatures are trying to save the crocodile’s victim, but it is possible the hippos were being territorial.
The footage, that has already been watched thousands of times in the first 24 hours since it was posted, is the work of Mervyn Van Wyk, 72, who was visiting the South Africa’s Kruger Park with his wife Tokkie.
The couple was watching the wildebeest grazing by the river, along with other animals when it was grabbed by a large crocodile.
The crocodiles prey put up a fight for about eight minutes, before it eventually looked like it was finally succumbing to the water and its inevitable demise, when two hippos suddenly appeared in shot and moved quickly in, giving the wildebeest a moment to escape.
But while it looks like the wildebeest lived to see another day, it has obviously suffered a serious injury to the leg the crocodile had caught it by.
Commentators on YouTube all seem agreed that while it got free of the crocodile, the likelihood is it will not live much longer with its injury as it will not be able to outrun land-based predators.