WATCH: Rhino vs Hippo epic showdown in the wild

In a rare wildlife encounter captured by Latest Sightings, the rhino and hippo face off. Picture: Latest Sightings/Instagram.

Now, you do not see this happening often: two of the animal kingdom’s heaviest animals going head to head.  Footage taken by Mike Kirkman, the head ranger of Mala Mala Game Reserve within the Sabi Sand Game Reserve, shows a hippo and rhino face off. 

The two animals were spotted near the airstrip at the game reserve this week. The hippo, who looks quite confused at seeing the large animal, tries to provoke the rhino- opening its jaws in a 180-degree angle. 

The rhino lets the hippo have his way during most of the almost three-minute video, allowing it to follow him and sniff him. 

At one point, the rhino, clearly peeved by the nighttime nuisance, looked him dead in the eye, while the other rhinos in the group watched on.

A few seconds later, the rhino chases the hippo away as a sign to leave them alone. 

Kirkman told Latest Sightings that everyone was “more confused than anything else”

“It is not normal to see an interaction like this between any animal- never mind the 2nd and 3rd largest species! As always, when nature throws a curveball like this, as a guide it is very difficult to explain,” he said. (sic).

Kirkman added that it was not an aggressive interaction. He believes the rhino was "lonely and bored or simply curious."