Zambezi River guide Paul Templer got a whiff of doom when a 4,000-pound hippo snatched him from a canoe and swallowed his head.

His encounter with the angry hippo cost him an arm. Its daggerlike tusks pierced Templer's chest under his left armpit. The deep bite severed but sealed a chest artery, preventing Templer from bleeding to death in the river.

The attack occurred at one of the most scenic spots in the world, on the sparkling Zambezi River about half a mile upstream from where Devil's Cataract splashes 300 feet over Victoria Falls. Templer was guiding home a river safari in the peaceful late afternoon of March 9. Three canoes and a kayak made up the safari.