Durban — Over the weekend, news spread of the birth of a baby hippo in Richards Bay.
A picture of the calf and what is believed to be its mother, was shared on social media.
On Sunday afternoon, the uMhlathuze Municipality warned of a roaming hippo and its calf on the John Ross Highway (R34) and R619 at the Arboretum and Meerensee intersection.
“Residents are warned not to get close to the animal as it is dangerous. (Ezemvelo) KZN Wildlife has been made aware,” the municipality said.
Earlier, uMhlathuze deputy mayor Christo Botha shared the news, saying “Richards Bay has a new baby hippo”.
“We truly live in a special place,” Botha said.
Reacting to news of the birth, the SPCA in Richards Bay, warned: “Please take care she is very aggressive when she has a baby. She picks up speed in seconds. Don’t get out of your vehicle to take pictures.”
Responding to questions about the birth and the role of Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife in ensuring the calf’s safety, spokesperson Musa Mntambo said that, female hippos run away from their habitat when they are about to give birth to protect their calves from being killed by male hippos.
“We don’t get too involved unless if a hippo were to give birth on the road and we may have to push it away from the public area. Our experienced game capture unit may be called to come and assist,” Mntambo said.
He said that that Richards Bay was a natural habitat of the hippos.
“Human beings have encroached in areas where animals like hippos used to roam. Hippos graze at night and are forced to graze in residential areas as they have nowhere (else) to go,” Mntambo explained.
Speaking on the wildlife that roam around in residential areas and how the entity kept tabs on their numbers, Mntambo said the wildlife was kept within protected areas. There were also private properties with permission to keep certain animals and report their numbers to Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife.
“Unfortunately, when reserves were created there was wildlife that were not fenced in. Those live naturally in our province. We thus don’t keep such records as wildlife also roam freely outside the reserve,” Mntambo said.
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