/ 18 May 2010

Hippo killed after moving into apartment complex

A stray hippo that moved into the reservoir for a South African apartment complex has been shot dead, due to fears it could hurt a resident, a newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The hippopotamus was killed Saturday after it was spotted in the complex reservoir near Tzaneen, Beeld said.

“We did not have the manpower to catch and relocate the hippo,” provincial environmental affairs spokesperson Joshua Kwapa told the paper.

“The hippo posed a danger to the public,” he said. “What would we have done if it had killed someone?”

The semi-aquatic animals are extremely violent, can run faster than a human on land, and often attack people.

South Africa’s growing cities sometimes end up in conflict with its world-famous wildlife. Hippos have been sighted in the Cape Town sewage treatment facility, and even at a beach resort outside Durban. — AFP