Angry, rogue male hippo happily relocated
THE rougue male that attacked a baby hippo has been successfully translocated to an undisclosed location.
The rogue male was part of a large pod in the Aquila Private Game Reserve, but had been forced out.
“The baby sustained some injuries but is now out of danger,” the reserve’s Thaya Bedford said. “The rogue male’s lacerations have healed and is enjoying his new home.”
The reserve said it was common for hippos to fight for dominance.
“This often leads to the occurrence of bachelor males which move along to create their own pods. Experts believe the ability for the hippo to live for millions of years has been their aggressive nature.”
A conservation team had been monitoring the bull after he was forced out of the large pod. Being left to his own devices on the approximately 10 000ha conservancy, the rangers were alerted to the scene where the male hippo had attacked one of the recently born baby hippos.
Their efforts dispersed the attack, and to their relief the baby hippo survived.
Game capture specialist, Gerald Minnaar, and pilot, Kobus Crous, said: “We were searching for the hippo and had no idea that he was practically below the helicopter. He weighed about 1.5 tons.”
The animal was transported by truck to his new home.
International photographer Albert Jansen Van Rosendaal recorded the moment.
“It was a spectacular moment.
“The hippo launched itself from underwater and attacked the helicopter. It was a completely unexpected scenario.”
At the time of capture, Aquila representative Ben Viljoen, said the animal had lacerations and various other wounds due to pod fights over the last while.
“He was very aggressive and had challenged and injured many of the other males. He had previously killed two calves, hence the decision to do a search mission in daylight. Capturing a hippo is difficult as tranquilising darts are not recommended because they rush to the water for protection and they could drown.”
The reserve tries to regularly exchange or buy new genetic blood lines to maintain a healthy gene pool. – Staff Reporter