Hippo relocated from mine dam to Olifants

Eugene Troskie, PNHF director says they received a request from the Limpopo Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism (LEDET) to assist with relocating a hippo bull that was at Foskor mine last week. “The hippo was spotted in a pit of one of the mines in Phalaborwa in a small dam. It was a high-risk situation for people and the hippo. We had to get him out of there as quickly as possible. “Together with LEDET and veterinarian Dr Rita Piso from Mangata Veterinary Services and Foskor staff, we successfully darted and moved him to the Olifants River.

He is a very big bull, but he has probably never seen so much water in his life,” says Troskie. Troskie also sustained an injury to his jaw and face when the team from PNHF rescued two impalas from snares recently. The one impala was found alive and was released while the other impala was found deceased but was resuscitated. During the resuscitation of the impala, she was moved away from a cluster of snares to avoid re-tangling. She pulled her leg and managed to kick Troskie in the jaw.

He sustained a large and deep wound to the face a few muscles were severed in the accident. Troskie is in good spirits and recovering well from the injury although he says that it will take time to heal fully. In 2023 PNHF removed more than 2300 snares from 29 patrolled properties. With the help of volunteers and partners, the foundation conducted 89 operations with 858 volunteers joining the operations. They patrolled a total of 598km on foot, drove 21 920km to conduct operations, discovered 22 poaching camps and a total of 534 000 manhours were spent on these operations.

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During these snare sweep operations, they discovered 234 animals that were illegally killed in snares, shot, and poisoned. A rough estimate of the value of the animals found is nearly R5 million. Species found during their operations include 68 Cape buffalos, 44 plain zebras, 27 impalas, 21 white-backed vultures, 16 domestic cattle, 11 elephants, 9 kudus, eight spotted hyenas, 8 giraffes, 4 wildebeests, 3 hooded vultures, 3 nyalas, 2 waterbucks, 2 hippos, a warthog, an African wildcat, a hedgehog, a side-strip jackal, a steenbok, a bush duiker, a helmeted guineafowl and a white rhino.

“These figures only included values of carcasses that we could find and excluded any that were removed by poachers or scavengers before we could locate them, carcasses that our team members did not detect, and also excludes species that do not have an economic value due to not being included in legal trade due endangered or critically endangered status. “These species have a far greater ecological value compared to economic value,” said Troskie. To get involved, donate, or volunteer at the PNHF, contact Troskie at 082 614 3638 or reach out to the PNHF on social media.