It was no fisherman's tale, it turned out, when talk around Grahamstown's braais was that anglers had spotted a hippo at Jameson Dam on the Highlands Road during the past few months.
It was no fisherman's tale, it turned out, when talk around Grahamstown's braais was that anglers had spotted a hippo at Jameson Dam on the Highlands Road during the past few months.
But rumours of the demise of the hippo, which has been roaming the New Year's River between Alicedale and the Highlands Road for close on a year, have been harder to confirm.
Janet White, of Hilton farm, 12km out on the Cradock Road, confirmed this week that a hippo had been sighted at their dam. "We found prints in January," White said. "About the size of a dinner plate. It was very exciting. It was moving up and down the river between the dams."
Neighbour Jeff Brown, of Brakkloof, confirmed the hippo had been in the area.
"It's been blundering around for months," Brown said, explaining that hippos cover great distances.
Staff had seen it in his dam, and it had destroyed several fences before moving on to the Whites' farm, he said.
Janet's husband John said he'd seen the hippo and staff had reported seeing it drinking with the cattle at the dam.
"A local reserve was keen to have it and they were beginning to arrange the necessary permits for its capture, when it suddenly disappeared," John said.
"We heard it had been seen upstream, then we heard it had been shot. We were very sad," Janet said this week.
On her blog, Janet posted on 8 September 2012, in a blog celebrating Spring on the farm: "…everything is alive, except our resident hippo of the past 9 months. With the warmer weather and new energy it had the difficult task of deciding between lucerne vs lust. Unfortunately the hormones won and it went “walk about” to find a mate. I believe instead of finding a mate it met a man-with-a-gun."
Speculation is rife as to the origins of the roaming hippo, but local game reserves say it's not theirs.
Conservation Manager at Pumba Private Game Reserve Richard Pearse said, "I know nothing about it. On the day the hippo sighting was reported, we accounted for all our hippo."
While farm general manager at Kwandwe reserve, Hendrik Odendaal, could not be reached by the time of going to press, assistant manager for hospitality Marna Fourie said they were "not aware of anything of the kind".
Subregional (Cacadu, Grahamstown) manager for Environmental Affairs in the Eastern Cape Quinton Hahndiek, confirmed that he had personally seen the hippo spoor at Jameson Dam.
"We believe the hippo was shot by a farmer," Hahndiek said. He explained that while in terms of threatened or protected species (TOPS) legislation a permit was necessary to kill or capture hippos, such a permit could be obtained retroactively in the case of an emergency. They had not yet received a report or permit application.
"Hippos are among the most dangerous animals in Africa," said Hahndiek, adding that officials believed this hippo had come from one of the Grahamstown area's numerous reserves.
He said there have been at least 15 hippo sightings in the "game-farm zone" – Adelaide/Bedford/Fort Beaufort/Grahamstown/Port Alfred – in the past year.
"There are some still living in the Fish River between Peddie Drift and Double Drift," he said, adding that there had been no deaths or injuries reported.
"The problem in Cacadu is in the Great and Small Fish River valleys, where they go into the lands. Staff know how dangerous they are and they don't want to work there."
He explained that in past centuries hippos roamed the Eastern Cape freely. "They were hunted out because of the clash with agriculture," he said.
