Cape Town - A hippo that was sighted last month after floods gripped the Eastern Cape has been sighted in Adelaide.
Humanitarian organisation, Gift of the Givers stepped in to assist in locating the hippo named Hilda after calls for their assistance came streaming in.
According to the Gift of the Givers manager for water projects in the area, Muhammed Ganget, Hilda has been roaming Adelaide for the past month.
He told IOL many people have tried capturing the hippo but had no luck.
“One of the security companies in the area has CCTV cameras across all streets in Adelaide.
“On CCTV footage they recorded the hippo roaming the streets and that video has since gone viral.
“After they asked for assistance and sent me a letter, I sent the letter to Dr Imtiaz Sooliman who gave the go ahead,” Ganget said.
He also went to see the game ranger in the area who had a permit to capture Hilda.
They set to work together and everyone, including local authorities and ward councillors, continued looking for Hilda.
“We were out in Koonap River for the entire time. We were searching the river up and down. We were not fortunate to sight it for a long time.
“There are quite a lot of houses on the river bank and the hippo roams around there, so you can basically say it's her habitat.
“She comes up during the evening. Hippos have to be in water 90% of the time. During the day it is in the water. We have tried to locate Hilda during the day, but the reeds and everything made it quite difficult,” Ganget explained.
He said when Hilda came out to land at night she would enter into the backyard of residents and eat their vegetation.
“I have not heard anything about Hilda hurting, attacking or chasing anyone, but the community is just concerned,” Ganget said.
On Monday evening, he received a video from a member from a local security company who spotted Hilda.
It was confirmed her habitat was in the Koonap River.
Ganget said he believes Hilda came down the river when it burst its banks and floods devastated parts of the Eastern Cape after torrential rains last month.
He said about two or three months ago there were sights of hippos in Fort Beaufort, however, he was not sure whether Hilda is from the same clan that perhaps escaped from somewhere.
On Tuesday, he received a call from a policeman who lived near the river bank and had spotted Hilda at about 2pm.
While Ganget was on the scene in two minutes, they could see the mud as she had slid her way back into the river and bubbles coming up as she swam away.
“Hilda doesn’t seem to be a wild hippo because last night (Wednesday) at 10.20pm a policeman phoned me to say it is in his backyard.
“At about 10.30pm, I was about five metres away from Hilda, she was cool and calm.
“The policeman has a very big backyard with grazing, He said the hippo is there and he thinks the hippo has found a nice quiet spot,” Ganget said.
As everyone on scene observed Hilda, she was oblivious to the attention and just went about her grazing nonchalantly.
Ganget said a meeting will be held on Thursday with local authorities and game reserves as well as a veterinarian to set up a plan to have Hilda relocated.
“We don’t want to have it shot and killed. Have it darted, save the animal and relocate it and let it carry on his life as he wants to,” he said.
While it will not be an easy task to catch Hilda, a big team will be assembled to assist and the veterinarian will be on standby to start with the necessary processes.
Local game reserves who are interested in housing Hilda have been asked to come forward so the necessary paperwork can be processed.
robin.francke@inl.co.za
IOL