Game Lodge causes uproar after shooting hippo

The shooting of a hippopotamus at a game lodge, allegedly for fear of it harming somebody, has set social media platforms abuzz.

Animal activists have been crucifying the decision by Heia Safari Ranch management in Muldersdrift to shoot a hippo that allegedly has been terrorising guests and workers, and running amok in the area.

Those displeased with the decision claim that the reason for the shooting is greed since the lodge, which is known for hosting extreme sport events such as trail running and mountain biking, had to cancel an open-water swimming event allegedly because of the presence of the hippo.

“Last night (30 March) (name of person withheld) from Heia Lodge, had a hippo shot in the Heritage dam, in order to make the water safe for a pending swimming event she/he planned. This in a dam surrounded by game reserves and which provides the most natural habitat for hippo, albeit a few kilometres from Johannesburg. She/ he cites that they are a danger to her/his staff and guests, whereas it is all to do with making money on the swim. The Heia circus is a joke and must be boycotted at all costs, ” writes an upset animal lover on facebook.

The Roodepoort Record spoke to one of Heia Safari Ranch’s managers, Ivan du Plooy, who painted a different scenario.

“The whole situation has been taken out of context completely on the social media platforms,” says Du Plooy.

“First of all the organisers of the event, who also organise the legendary Midmar Mile Open Water Swim, cancelled on the day after assessing the lake and finding that because of the rain there were too many hyacinths and logs in the water, making it unsafe for the swimmers. They even posted this on their website the same afternoon,” says Du Plooy.

The Record verified this and indeed found that Midmar Mile cites the above as their reason and not the presence of hippos.

“The problem with the hippos has come a long way – at least the past three years. It all started with a neighbouring lodge (name known to the Record but withheld due to the fact that they could not be reached for comment) who keeps hippos. They did not attend to their hippo pool’s fencing and time and again some of the hippos would escape and run amok in the area.

“We then had to lure the hippos out of the lake and into a smaller dam. Because this lodge demanded their hippos back we had to get a professional game company to catch and transport the hippos back to their owners’ lodge. This would cost us as much as R75 000 a time,” says Du Plooy.

“There were various incidents on the different occasions when the hippos escaped. They were terrorising guests and our workers especially had a hard time since at night they have to walk past the lake to their sleeping quarters. Since hippos mostly come out of the water at night they perceive humans as a threat when they come between the hippos and the water. This resulted in our workers being chased on more than one occasion. On another occasion canoeists were on the lake when a hippo popped up three metres away from them.

“There also has been reports of a hippo getting stuck in a sandpit at a brickyard and even of a hippo being spotted on Beyers Naudé Drive last year.

“Over the three years we constantly kept Nature Conservation informed of the problem and then recently out of desperation we obtained two permits to shoot the hippos. We also got the hunters that Nature Conservation recommended and when one of the hippos ended up in our dam again on Sunday the decision was taken to shoot it,” continues Du Plooy.

“We have invited people to come and sit down with us so that we could discuss the situation and explain, but it seems that everything now got out of hand on the social media platforms,” concludes a dismayed Du Plooy.