Good evening. I'm Chris Packham and here is the second semi final of this year's competition. It's a fascinating three way encounter featuring the defending champion. Let's see how they all match up.
Polar Bear
2nd Round - 35 votes - beat the Cassowary
Quarter Final - 32 votes - drew against the Jaguar
Total knockout votes received - 67
You all know this guy. WHC royalty and former multiple winner. After a few years apparently in the WHC wilderness the Polar Bear is back and a step away from the final. It nearly let things slip in the quarter final, being moments away from victory over the Jaguar, but hung in there to reach the final 5. It's colossal, has huge strength, smells food in different time zones, swims hundreds of miles to get it and can then stealthily ambush it despite being the size of a car itself. Undeniably hard, yes. Hard enough? You decide.
Hippopotamus
2nd Round - 38 votes - beat the Deathstalker Scorpion
Quarter Final - 38 votes - beat the Mantis Shrimp
Total knockout votes received - 76
The defending champion. It has been a long time since the Hippo tasted defeat and it has simply breezed past the Deathstalker Scorpion and Mantis Shrimp to reach this stage. It's a monster responsible for more human deaths in Africa than any other animal (a continent containing Lions, Leopards, Cheetahs, Buffalos etc). The Hippo has brawled its way to the WHC crown through sheer bloody mindedness. The Hippo doesn't pick its fights. It just fights. If you get in its way, get near its way, look at its way then it's coming for you and you'd best be ready when it does. It can run at a fair old lick and bite you in two when it gets there. Remember too that the Hippo is a veggie. It doesn't fit for food or even survival. It fights because it likes to and it's good at it. Beware.
Grasshopper Mouse
2nd Round - 32 votes - beat the Naked Mole Rat
Quarter Final - 29 votes - beat the Tiger
Total knockout votes received - 61
The Grasshopper Mouse has yet to really shine in this year's contest, despite making it all the way to the semi. It took down the Tiger but has the most modest vote count of the final five. It will need to raise its game to make it to the final. It might be the smallest of the remaining competitors but it has one of the biggest attitudes. Howls at the moon, governs vast territory and will cannibalise the ass of any of its own kind coming too close. It devours toxic centipedes and scorpions, even turning their venom into painkiller as it does so. So much more than just a mouse and a WHC favourite.
