A stray hippo roaming the streets of Mbombela is now in the care and safety of the Mpumalanga Wildlife Protection Services (MWPS) after a successful rescue operation took place in the early hours of Sunday morning.
According to reports issued by Lowvelder, a local media site, the hippo was spotted on the streets of Mbombela. It was spotted grazing on a patch of grass near the main road and no one is sure of how it had found its way into the urban area.
Emer_G_Med, a private medical and ambulance service company captured images of the hippo strolling the streets.
The hippo was darted three times by Mpumalanga Wildlife Protection Services after midnight before being transported to safety.
Bossies Community Justice operations manager Albert Greyvenstein told News24 the relocation of the hippo was challenging. “It took three darts to get him to fall asleep and he had to be lifted onto the truck by crane,” he said.
The rescue operation took three hours to complete. To ensure the safety of the public and the hippo, access to the road was blocked until the animal was safely removed.
Greyvenstein explained, “The R40 is one of the main routes in Mbombela, and it is a busy road, so we had to ensure the hippo didn’t wander into the traffic.”
A Hi-Tech officer, Clint Wesley, told the Louwvelder it was not a common sighting and it was the third that he had seen in over 25 years.
Picture: Twitter/ EMER_G_MED
You may also like
Related Posts
China’s National Health Commission has published a list of controversial coronavirus treatments that have animal...
read more
Warmer sea temperatures in the summer months, especially in February, were recorded and are believed...
read more
The latest report indexing the world's happiest countries has highlighted the important role of...
read more
