HIPPO MANAGEMENT
Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife (EKZNW) is the provincial agency mandated to manage nature/biodiversity
conservation within the province of KwaZulu-Natal. It is an agency that has a proud record of
dedication to this purpose stretching back more than fifty years. The organization and its staff
have come to realize that this mandate can produce situations that call for hard decisions and
drastic action - usually with regard to situations involving actual or potential conflict
between large and potentially dangerous game and humans.
EKZNW has a very clear policy for dealing with problem animals and in particularly large and
potentially dangerous game such as hippos. If such an animal cannot be driven back to its home
range or captured it is destroyed before it becomes a threat to human life. From the very early
days of this saga our staff monitored "the Verulam hippo" and its movements. It did not once
present a safe opportunity either to catch or destroy it. There is also no explanation as to why
hippos roam in this way - although a likely reason is that the animal had been evicted from its
home range by a stronger herd bull. There is currently no viable way of preventing this sort of
movement by hippos seeing as they usually move along waterways which are almost impossible to
fence.
Our experience with roaming hippos is such that we know it is wise to leave the animal alone
as much as possible until it chooses a direction of travel. This animal, after being harassed at
Ballito sought refuge north of Tinley Manor in very dense bush so thick that it was not safe to
track it. We did in fact state at the time that we hoped that it would carry on northwards and
return to its place of origin.
EKZNW staff monitored the animal's movements constantly and had our game capture staff
evaluating the situation both from the air and on the ground. These are men who are arguably
amongst the most experienced in the game capture field in Africa if not globally –– and have an
internationally acclaimed track record. Our experience in dealing with hippos goes back a long way
indeed and over many years a great many methods of catching hippos have been tried with indifferent
success. Using dart-injected drugs is seldom successful because the moment the dart hits the animal
it flees to water which is its natural refuge. There the drug takes effect, the animal lapses into
unconsciousness and drowns before it can be hauled out. In addition, there is, at this time, no
safe, tried and tested immobilising drug combination that is effective on hippos. Using the drug
combinations that makes rhino capture extremely successful places the life of the hippo at risk
through its physical reaction to these drugs.
The other, more successful method is by passive capture which only works for animals already
settled in an enclosed body of water like a small pan or dam. This involves erecting an electrified
fence around the pan, and putting up a massively built steel enclosure with a trap door at the
entrance. Lucern and hay is placed inside the trap and as the animals consume the natural fodder
around the pan they begin to feed into the trap. It can take weeks before the animals venture into
the trap and the door can be triggered. This does not work for a roaming single animal and
certainly was not appropriate in the situation involving the ""Verulam hippo" that was in a river
impossible to seal off.
A hippo is not an animal to be trifled with and of all the big game animals of Africa it has
the reputation for causing the most human deaths. It must also be understood that this animal was
in a very stressful and foreign environment. Hippos do enter the sea occasionally but not willingly
and at Ballito this animal certainly was not surfing as many media reports indicated, and which
gave the impression that the animal was having fun. This animal was being harassed by people, dogs,
vehicles and aircraft, disturbances which ( in their protected area environment) they are normally
not exposed to. Under these conditions hippos become very unpredictable, irritable and extremely
dangerous. It is also highly unlikely that anyone who has no experience in hippo capture nor has
access to heavy enough and appropriate equipment will succeed in catching one. An amateur capture
operation will not only place at risk the lives of those directly involved but also those of
innocent people in the vicinity. Such an attempt is also quite likely to have a seriously
negative environmental impact on the area in which the capture is attempted. We are, after all,
talking about an animal that weighs up to one and half tonnes, is immensely powerful, fast, very
aggressive and is armed with a fearful array of tusks which it has no compunction about using.
At no stage was capture a viable option in the case of the ""Verulam hippo", and EKZNW took
the decision some time ago to destroy the animal before human lives were further threatened. It
moved into a settled area at Verulam before this decision could be implemented. When the animal
moved onto eThekweni Municipality land management of the situation passed to the eThekweni
Municipality although EKZNW did agree to advise and support them where necessary. The eThekweni
Municipality appointed a professional hunter to destroy the hippo and was also responsible for
disposing of the carcase which was buried in one of the municipal dumps.
Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife sent two experienced members of staff as observers and as a back-up.
Three shots from heavy calibre rifles were fired at the hippo which ran about 40 metres and
disappeared into the river. A search using spotlights showed no sign of the animal which in itself
was an indication that the animal was dead. Had it been wounded it would have been visible. At dawn
the carcase of the animal was found at the same spot at which it had entered the river. This
indicated that it had died within minutes of being shot. It was later found that one bullet had hit
the animal in the heart. It is not uncommon for large animals to run a short distance after being
heart-shot.
Critics might well say that EKZNW did not explore enough options but it must be understood
that to begin experimenting with capture techniques when a large, powerful and aggressive animal is
in the midst of a human settlement is not wise practice. It is also necessary to evaluate the
physical impact of these operations on the immediate environment. The EKZNW Game Capture Unit has a
long history of innovation with regard to animal capture and has been experimenting with various
methods of catching hippos for many years. To date the most successful method has been passive
capture with its attendant limitations.
Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife has received numerous emails and other messages from concerned citizens
about this incident, and many opinions have been expressed in the various media. While the
organisation appreciates the concern felt by the public, and respects people's right to express
opinion, it must be emphasized that decisions taken in such situations are backed by knowledge,
experience and understanding gained from similar occasions over time. EKZNW regrets that it was
necessary to destroy this animal but does remind people that the organisation has a responsibility
to the broader community in such circumstances.
