Green Options

A Democratic Republic of Congo soldier was killed by a hippo while fishing illegally in Virunga National Park’s Lake Edward.

Despite the ban on fishing in Lake Edward, a member of Democratic Republic of Congo government forces, along with five others, were poaching fish from the lake when a hippo overturned their boat.

Wildlife authorities are battling to get a hippo to leave the Cape Flats Sewage Plant and move back to the more natural environment of the Zeekoevlei Nature Reserve in which he was born.

While this is a lighthearted post, its worth noting that many believe the hippo and not the lion or the crocodile is the animal responsible for most human deaths in Africa.

The young four year old hippo left the reserve several days ago and moved into the sewage works at Zandvlei, where he has been resisting all attempts to send him home. Its not a simple matter to move a hippo which weighs 800 kg and spends most of the day in the water. Conservation workers have been erecting fences and gates to restrict his movements and guide him home.