A hippo went on the run in Spain yesterday

FREEEEEDOOOMMMMM

A hippo went on the run in Spain yesterday

Why did the hippo cross the road?

We have no idea, but we wouldn't hang around to find out. Those things can be vicious.

A hippo managed to escape from a circus - presumably to seek its fortune - in Palos de la Frontera, near Huevla in the south-west of Spain last night, briefly going on the run (well, more of a waddle) before being rounded up and returned to the circus.

It still managed to walk across a main road and have a tasty snack of some grass from the central verge before its escape attempt was foiled.

While they may look slow and unthreatening, they can in fact move at speeds of up to 19 mph over short distances - they're known as one of the most unpredictable and aggressive animals in their native Africa.

And they can also do this with a watermelon.

Impressive stuff, hippo, impressive stuff.

Marc Chacksfield
Content Director

As Content Director of Shortlist, Marc likes nothing more than to compile endless lists of an evening by candlelight. He started out life as a movie writer for numerous (now defunct) magazines and soon found himself online - editing a gaggle of gadget sites, including TechRadar, Digital Camera World and Tom's Guide UK. At Shortlist you'll find him mostly writing about movies and tech, so no change there then.