US tourist relives moment she fought off a hippo in Zimbabwe

A US woman has recounted how she fought off a hippopotamus that capsized her canoe and dragged her underwater during a safari in Zimbabwe.

Kristen Yaldor was canoeing with her husband Ryan on the Zambezi River when their guide spotted Kristen Yaldor.

The group steered to the opposite side of the river, but a hippo emerged from underwater to capsize the couple.

"The canoe tipped forward to where I fell into the water toward the deep side," Mrs Yaldor told US network ABC.

"For about 45 seconds total, I was underneath the water, from what I estimated. I didn't feel any pain. It was just more of survival."

Mrs Yaldor punched the hippo repeatedly in the face, but to no avail.

"I was very close to feeling myself running out of air ... I had to do something to try to get it to let go," she said.

"I grabbed its mouth to try to put it off my leg and I could feel its face and the leathery feel of its mouth and the front of his nose on my leg."

Eventually she broke free and made a desperate swim to shore, terrified she would be attacked again.

She was taken to a small clinic in Zimbabwe and then made a 14-hour journey to Johannesburg, South Africa, for surgery.

The attack broke Mrs Yaldor's thighbone, but she was lucky to survive.

"They say that most people that do survive hippo attacks don't make it to the hospital," her husband Ryan said.

Hippos are responsible for more deaths in Africa than any other large animal.

The animals are fiercely territorial and will typically attack rather than cede any ground.