Sanparks employee kills hippo
Nicolene Smalman | 15 July 2014
SKUKUZA – An employee of SANParks killed a hippo late Thursday night when he was on his way to Lower Sabie to see his terminally ill mother.
A reader, Mr Ken Graham, enquired with Lowvelder about the hippo that was killed on the H4-1 between Skukuza and Lower Sabie in the Kruger National Park (KNP). The newspaper asked SANParks spokesman Mr Isaac Phaala about the incident. He then confirmed that a hippo had been killed on that road.
“A staff member based at Lower Sabie was attending to official SANParks business on Thursday. The meeting he had attended finished late that evening. He requested permission from Lower Sabie’s section ranger to travel at night as required and it was granted. He decided to overnight in Skukuza to drive back at the first break of dawn on Friday,” Phaala said.
However, that night he received a call that his mother was very ill and therefore he urgently needed to return home. “His mother is terminally ill with cancer. He drove back to Lower Sabie and unfortunately hit a hippo. The animal was killed on impact. The trip was authorised, but investigations are underway and KNP management is dealing with the case.”