A mother will do anything to protect her child even if it means treading on dangerous grounds. A hippopotamus mother was flipped high into the air as she stood against an aggressive elephant, who just gave her calf time to run for safety. The hippopotamus emerged unscathed from the attack with just a little cut on the side and perhaps a bruised ego.

The scene was photographed by wildlife Photographer Rian Van Schalkwyk at the Erindi Private Game Reserve in Windhoek, Namibia. He works as a GP in Rundu, a town in northeast Namibia, spending days at the reserve, waiting for spectacular scenes behind a bush. The scene was from a restaurant viewing deck overlooking a water hole, where Van Schalkwyk had a vantage point and private view of the incredible animal interaction.

The restaurant staff went to put some grass out for the hippopotamus in the water because the ongoing drought left them with nothing to eat. Around 20 hippos went out of the water immediately to start grazing. A large elephant also came out going for the grass.

The elephant was harmoniously grazing with the hippos but when the hippos ventured closer, she became agitated and frantically flapped his ears. The photographed hippo strayed a tad close to the elephant before it took drastic action. The baby hippos ran for safety as their mom took the full brunt of the elephant's force. Adult hippopotamus can weigh 1.5 tons or more but it was dwarfed by the elephant, who flipped her with his trunk with ease.

The hippo landed on her back and rolled down the embankment. The elephant just stood and shook his head while the hippo retreated to the water. Elephants can be incredibly fast over short distances.

The mother was only trying to protect her young hippos and went to such lengths to stand her ground against a bigger animal. The pictures show the mother was taken aback and even the elephant seems to second guess what he did. The mother and calf were reunited right away but she was not lavished with sympathy as the herd was aggressive towards her, forcing them to retreat apart from the group. The elephant's mood did not change as he carried a few more mock charges on other hippos before he left them to graze in peace.

See photos here