Dicing with death: The zebra stoops low to place his head between the hippo's jaws....This inquisitive zebra diced with death when it leaned in to the gaping mouth of a hippopotamus.
One of the most aggressive animals in the world, the hippo can savage its prey to death with its menacing jaw.
But the zebra seems perfectly unaware of the precarious position he's in as he teeters on the edge of the water dangerously close to the animal's razor-sharp teeth.
Despite appearing to be just seconds away from imminent death, the striped creature escaped unharmed.
Much to the surprise of zoo visitors, the animal was merely cleaning the hippo's teeth.
... but rather than attack, the hippo seems quite content for the zebra to nuzzle his teethThe extraordinary spectacle was captured by photographer Jill Sonsteby at Zurich Zoo, in Switzerland.
The 34-year-old, from Jacksonville, Florida, USA, said: 'The zebra was in the same enclosure as hippo and its baby.
'The hippo opened its mouth and let the zebra in there to clean. They literally did that for the 20 of us zoo-goers for about 15 minutes.
'There was no harm done to the zebra. Everybody was snapping pictures of the sight. They thought it was really sweet.'
Despite being just five feet tall, the hippo, weighing up to three tonnes, is the third largest mammal in the world.
The creature's impressive jaw measures two feet across and can be opened to 150 degrees.
Its bite pressure has been measured at an impressive 1,821 pounds - enough to bite a small boat in half.
Despite its hefty frame the hippo can out run a human on land with speeds of up to 19 miles per hour over short distances.
In water adult hippos cannot swim but propel themselves along at speeds of up to five miles per hour.
Known to be aggressive, the animals are most hostile when protecting their young.
They rarely kill each other but have been responsible for the deaths of hundreds of people in Africa.
source: dailymail
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