South Africa's elusive hippo finally
captured
Thu Dec 9,12:46 PM ET
JOHANNESBURG (AFP) - It took six darts and a three-and-half hour
chase in swamplands outside of Cape Town but wildlife officials
finally caught an elusive male hippo which has been on the run
since February.
AFP/File Photo
The 800 kilogramme (1760 pound) hippo, only known as "Calf 2002"
escaped from the Rondevlei reserve outside the city "sometime in
February" after vandals tore down fencing when they stole an
excavator.
In September, Cape Town went on high alert when the two-year-old
calf wandered near near Zeekoevlei, a major recreational area --
which ironically in Dutch means "hippopotamus marsh", named by the
first settlers to the Cape in the 17th century.
Reserve manager Dalton Gibbs on Thursday said however wildlife
officials finally caught up with the animal, capturing it in
Zeekoevlei's deep water after darting it six times.
"It went off chaotically, but extremely well. We have learnt a lot
about hippo behaviour in very difficult and unusual circumstances,"
said Gibbs.
"Considering that hippos are only caught passively on land, this
capture operation in water was a challenge," Gibbs told the SAPA
news agency.
The aquatic mammal was recovering from the effects of the drugs and
would probably be taken to the Eastern Cape province because of a
power struggle with the reserve's dominant male hippo.
After being hunted into extinction in South Africa's Western Cape
about 200 years ago, hippos were first re-introduced to Cape Town
at the Rondevlei reserve in 1981.
This was the first escape reported from there.
(source:
Yahoo News)
