{"id":548708,"date":"2026-06-22T18:45:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T18:45:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/548708\/"},"modified":"2026-06-22T18:45:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T18:45:09","slug":"one-of-the-worlds-deadliest-animals-once-swam-freely-in-the-detroit-river-a-dog-stopped-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/548708\/","title":{"rendered":"One of the world\u2019s deadliest animals once swam freely in the Detroit River. A dog stopped him"},"content":{"rendered":"

DETROIT<\/strong> \u2013 On June 22, 1863, one of the most dangerous animals in the world escaped its cage and lept into the Detroit River<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bailey\u2019s Circus was making its way to Detroit, and because of the size and weight of its massive animals, the troupe was being transported by steamship from Buffalo.<\/p>\n

Just a few miles south of Detroit, a hippo did what we all fantasize about doing when overstimulated<\/a>: just bail.<\/p>\n

The hippopotamus broke free from its cage, jumped off the boat and plunged into the Detroit River.<\/p>\n

His trainer, an Egyptian man named Ali, reacted swiftly. Taking with him on a rowboat a large black mastiff, he set out to capture the fugitive hippo.<\/p>\n

The dog was actually the hippo\u2019s companion and had been trained to sleep in the cage alongside him — resulting in one of those unexpectedly heartwarming animal friendships. <\/p>\n

The mastiff jumped into the river after his friend and led the hippo to shore, where Ali was able to secure the animal and bring him into the city.<\/p>\n

Accounts of this event report that the hippopotamus was in fine condition after his leisurely swim<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t let the looks fool you<\/p>\n

Despite looking like gigantic, shaved guinea pigs, hippopotamuses are believed to be among the deadliest animals on the planet. They are aggressive, highly territorial and not something to mess with.<\/p>\n

According to Britannica<\/a>, they kill between 500 and 3,000 people every year. However, these numbers are disputed. According to The Wild Source<\/a>, there\u2019s little data that supports the claim. <\/p>\n

However, while they may kill fewer people than thought, they\u2019re still very dangerous. Nearly 90% of all hippo attacks are fatal.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t challenge a hippo, guys. You will not win.<\/p>\n

Concerned?<\/p>\n

Either way, the good news is that there are very few hippos in Metro Detroit. Unless there\u2019s some kind of underground hippo breeding black market, the closest ones would be at the Toledo Zoo.<\/p>\n

The bad news is that the world\u2019s actual deadliest animal — the mosquito<\/a> — is quite fond of our area. So in a way, the deadliest animal has always had a presence in the Detroit River.<\/p>\n

Be safe.<\/p>\n

—> <\/b>First aid safety tips for 20 of the most common summer injuries<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DETROIT \u2013 On June 22, 1863, one of the most dangerous animals in the world escaped its cage…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":548709,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[273],"tags":[702,235231,18,19,17,235232,133,26757,461],"class_list":["post-548708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-detroit","tag-detroit-history","tag-eire","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-michigan-history","tag-science","tag-wayne-county","tag-wildlife"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116795246339422100","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=548708"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548708\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/548709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=548708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=548708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=548708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}