IN PHOTOS: White River hippo safely relocated

Reports of the hippo (estimated to be about five years old) surfaced for the first time on Friday morning when it was seen along Impala Street. That evening between 23:00 and 02:00, the MTPA was overrun with phone calls placing the hippo deeper into the residential area.

The agency needed time, however, to mobilise its team and equipment, including a veterinarian and a crane truck. In the meantime it advised residents to be ready and to keep an eye out.

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Once everything was ready and they received another call, they were there within minutes on Saturday evening.

The operation took place at about 22:00 and according to Chris Hobkirk, a member of the capture team, it took about an hour and a half.

One of the biggest challenges the team faced was working around the bystanders at the scene. The agency asked that in future, bystanders not crowd a scene as they had done that evening.

Hobkirk said even though it sounds like a long time for an operation, they did a clean and excellent job and everything ran smoothly. “We were there, we darted the hippo, loaded it and left.”

Among the team members present, Hobkirk said they had more than 60 years’ worth of experience with situations like these.

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The hippo is currently at a holding facility where it will remain for about another week.

Here, the effects of the tranquilisers and the whole operation will wear off. The MTPA’s top management will then determine where the hippo will be relocated to.

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Hobkirk said hippos are very intelligent animals and that this one has already learned how things are done at the facility, where food comes from, and so on.