Wandering hippo settles down

2008-06-03 13:03

Durban - The wandering hippopotamus - spotted cavorting along Ballito's shorebreak last week - appears to have settled down in Tinley Manor on the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast, the Mercury reported on Tuesday.

Ecologist Paul Dutton said hippo tracks were spotted between Tinley Manor and Christmas Bay. He said the tracks were also spotted in a garden of a Tinley Manor home at the weekend.

The animal had been spotted in Richards Bay, Ballito and other areas over the past two weeks.

Wildlife authorities last week issued a stern warning to the public to stay away from the hippo.

KwaZulu-Natal Ezemvelo spokesperson Jeff Gaisford told Sapa: "A bite from a hippo is usually fatal to a human being".

"If you leave it alone, it will leave you alone because if it doesn't like you, it will attack," he said.

- SAPA