Lonely young male hippo dies after being struck by car in Pretoria

Tshwane’s department of environmental and agriculture management on Monday told the sad tale of how a hippo ended up dead on a Pretoria road at the weekend.

The MMC for the department, Katlego Mathebe, said the hippo had been chased out of its herd and went on to live a life of isolation.

“The young male was run off from the breeding herd by a dominant male and subsequently gained access to the resort area of the reserve through the dam. Being a nocturnal feeder, the hippo would enter the overnight chalets area at night and graze there,” Mathebe said.

Crime, however, led to the already secluded hippo wandering off on his own.

“Nature conservation officials found that the hippo exited the chalet area and came up to the main fence where some ClearVu fencing panels on the western side of the resort area had been stolen by vandals,” said Mathebe.

“The young male discovered the gap and made his way to the M57 through a large open veld, where he was hit by the vehicle.”

The incident happened in the early hours of Sunday morning on the M57 near Nellmapius Drive.

The carcass of the hippo was loaded on to a large truck and removed by about 11am on Sunday.

Mathebe said they were working on repairing the fence to ensure such an incident never happens again.

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