Africa Wild

Someone has got mixed up there

BREAKING NEWS: Hippo darted next to old KaNyamazane road
The whole operation lasted about three hours.
7 hours ago



The hippo grazing on the grass. Photo: Bossies Community Justice.

NELSPRUIT– A stray hippo that has been spotted along the R40 and old KaNyamazane road was darted in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The hippo, who allegedly came from the river close to the show grounds, was grazing on the patch of grass close to Bosch Street.



Bossie’s Community Justice and Hi-Tech were on the scene just after midnight and attempted to block the roads and keep the hippo on the grass.

Mpumalanga Wildlife Protection Services arrived on the scene at about 00:40.
They darted the hippo three times before it finally fell.

The team trying to roll the tranquillised hippo on to the mat to hoist it up and into the truck.

According to Bossies Community Justice’s Albert Gryvenstein, the tranquillisers were worth between R8000 and R10 000.

When the hippo finally fell, it was time for it to be loaded into the barricaded animal transport vehicle to be taken to safety.



The whole operation lasted about three hours.

Clint Wesley, a Hi-Tech officer who was on the scene, said that this is the third incident of its sort he has encountered in the past 25 years.


https://lowvelder.co.za/465043/breaking ... zane-road/

According to Bossies Community Justice’s Albert Gryvenstein, the tranquillisers were worth between R8000 and R10 000.

It sounds as if he is saying that a hippo is not worth that sum of money Are tranquillisers that expensive? I doubt it very much

I think it was just mentioned as an interesting fact, Lis!

The story of Huberta the hippo .

My parents told me about this long after it happpened from 1928 to 1930 .

Huberta (initially named Hubert; the gender was discovered after death) was a hippopotamus and one of the most famous animals in South African history.[1]

In November 1928, Huberta left her waterhole in the St. Lucia Estuary in Zululand and set off on the 1,600 kilometres (1,000 mi) journey to the Eastern Cape, a journey which took her three years. In that time, Huberta became a minor celebrity in South Africa and attracted crowds wherever she went. She was initially thought to be a male and was nicknamed Hubert by the press. The first report in the press was on 23 November 1928 in the Natal Mercury and reported the appearance of a hippo in Natal. The report was accompanied by the only photograph of Huberta in life.[1]

Huberta stopped for a while at the mouth of the Mhlanga River about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) north of Durban and a failed attempt was made to capture her and put her in Johannesburg Zoo. After this, she headed south to Durban where she visited a beach and a country club. Moving on to the Umgeni River, she became revered by Zulus and Xhosas alike.

Finally, Huberta arrived in East London in March 1931. Despite her having been declared royal game (and thus protected) by the Natal Provincial Council, she was shot by farmers a month later. After a public outcry, the farmers were arrested and fined £25. Huberta's body was recovered and sent to a taxidermist in London. Upon her return to South Africa in 1932, she was greeted by 20,000 people and was displayed at the Amathole Museum (previously known as the Kaffrarian Museum) in King William's Town.

Thanks for sharing this interesting animal from our past.

Interestingly there also was a buffalo roaming far and wide through the Eastern Cape - he was called Wolsak for looking like a stuffed bale of wool.

He still surveys the Eastern Cape from where his mounted body is also on display in the Amathole Museum.

Interesting stuff guys.

Very strange! Quite a distance

UPDATE: Stray hippo that was captured, dies

20 hours ago
Arisa Janse van Rensburg and Tereasa Dias

MBOMBELA – The stray young bull hippo that was darted in the early hours of Sunday morning along the R40 and old KaNyamazane road, died on Sunday night.

According to the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency’s (MTPA) Dr Ferreira du Plessis, hippos have a complex physiology which causes their breathing to be easily affected by anaesthesia.

“This is very sad as we were going to relocate him to a reserve that needed a bull hippo.”

The hippo, who allegedly came from the river close to the show grounds, was spotted grazing on the patch of grass close to Bosch Street on Saturday.

Bossies Community Justice (BCJ) and Hi-Tech were on the scene just after midnight and attempted to block the roads and keep the hippo on the grass.

Mpumalanga Wildlife Protection Services arrived at the scene at about 00:40. They darted the animal three times before it finally fell to the ground. The team rolled the tranquilised hippo onto a mat to hoist it up and into a truck.



According to BCJ’s Albert Gryvenstein, the tranquillisers were worth between
R8 000 and R10 000.

Louw Steyn, who assisted in the darting, stated that it was necessary to relocate the young bull, as it was reported crossing the road regularly.

“He is a risk to people and vehicles on the road.”

Steyn explained that darting a hippo was risky business, as it could charge through the vehicles and into the nearby river. “Normally if a hippo manages to get to the water after we have darted him, we have to shoot them.”

When the hippo finally fell, it was time for the bull to be loaded into the barricaded animal transport vehicle to be taken to safety. The whole operation lasted about three hours.

Steyn added that the hippo would be taken to a nearby reserve to avoid it going to farms or near roads. “This happens with young bulls. They get chased away by the other hippos and then wander into populated areas.”

Clint Wesley, a Hi-Tech officer who was on the scene, said this is the third incident of its sort he has encountered in the past 25 years.
https://lowvelder.co.za/465229/update-s ... ured-dies/