Steve Backshall says which 'dangerous and grumpy' animal he's most afraid of (2024)

Steve Backshall revealed he is terrified of hippos (Image: Getty)

TV star Steve Backshall has revealed which animal he is most afraid of. The adventurer has come face to face with some of the world's most terrifying creatures.

Steve's escapades have seen him throttled by a python, stalked by a polar bear, encircled by sharks, charged at by hippos and bitten by a crocodile.

But it is the hippo that has envoked most fear in him - the creatures kill more humans in Africa than any other animal, causing an estimated 500 deaths annually.

The Springwatch guest presenter told the Daily Mail's Weekend: "The key is not to be afraid because animals smell fear and that brings danger. But there have been some hairy moments. The times I've felt most fearful have been with hippos.

"They're one of the most dangerous, grumpy and unpredictable animals. They charge readily in water or on land. They may weigh three tons but they can run like racehorses.

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Steve Backshall is wary around hippos (Image: Getty)

"On the last show I did I got caught on land with a hippo. We were looking for crocodiles at night with a light and surprised a hippo feeding nearby. My heart raced when I saw an animal that size thundering along, first on land and then deep water.

"We were staggered at how fast it ran. It just didn't stop. Thank goodness he charged away from us as we were a long way from our vehicle. It's likely we would have been trampled to death if he'd run towards us.

'We rely on local experience and in that part of Zambia where there's no poaching or hunting, the local guys said we were going to head down a river. I said, 'But there's a pod of 200 hippos!' I was getting very nervous because if that had been in South Africa we would have been killed, 100%."

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Steve Backshall (Image: Sky UK / SWNS)

Steve has recently had a new creature named after him after coming across a previously undiscovered shrimp that he's christened Backshall Snapping Shrimp.

The TV adventurer came across the shrimp while filming his fortcoming UK touring show Ocean.

He said: "It's got one giant claw and one tiny one but it uses the large one to snap and create an incredibly loud sound as a powerful derrent to other animals. It was named after me because I was on a dive in Tenerife when we found this new creature.It's tiny but utterly beautiful under a microscope."

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