Our beloved Cape Town is one of the world’s ultimate bucket list destinations. With an endless list of places to go, activities to tick off and sights to see, the Mother City offers a truly memorable stay – whether you’re a resident or visitor.
And if you’re truly lucky (or simply a Grassy Park resident), you may get to experience a once-in-a-lifetime, free-of-charge safari right in the heart of the southern suburbs.
Also read: Game of Thrones star Natalie Dormer enjoys South Africa’s mountains, sea and a safari
A resident hippo from the popular Rondevlei Nature Reserve was spotted taking a brief ‘walkabout’ in the early hours of Saturday morning, walking side to side in a street in Grassy Park and admiring the houses.
The nature reserve is home to Cape Town’s only hippopotamus population, with a sturdy herd of at least six hippos who mostly keep to themselves in their habitat.
So yes, they may not all be strolling around after midnight, but there are indeed always hippos in Grassy Park. This one just had no idea how to make its way back home.
Take a look:
Last night in Grassy Park a young male Hippo from Rondevlei Nature Reserve went for a walk about! @CityofCT nature reserve rangers quickly guided him back into the reserve.
This dispersing male will be relocated to another nature reserve. 🦛 pic.twitter.com/1yxBYCKXgG
— alexlansdowne (@alexlansdowne) April 13, 2024
As per News24, Minibus taxi driver Arnold Brown rubbed his eyes in disbelief as he drove through the streets of Grassy Park when he spotted a yawning hippo in front of him, exposing its massive teeth while walking from side to side in the street and looking at the houses in the neighbourhood.
‘I had to blink twice because I actually thought I was gesuip (drunk) when I saw the huge hippo walking and yawning,’ he told the publication on Saturday morning.
So fascinated by the sight, Brown was tempted to jump out of his minibus taxi to snap some pictures but was advised not to get close to the animal by law enforcement officers and two passengers.
According to Brown, SAPS and a team from the SPCA arrived with rangers when he drove off.
The police, who called the SPCA, were notified by rangers from the Rondevlei section of the False Bay Nature Reserve who saw a report on a social media group about a hippo spotted outside the reserve.
SPCA Wildlife Department inspectors, together with reserve staff and Quemic rangers, guided the hippo back into the reserve in Perth Road using their vehicles.
It was discovered that the hippo escaped through a fence at the reserve, which was temporarily secured until repairs could be effected.
‘On investigation, it was found that there was an altercation between the dominant male and the other hippo in the area and in an attempt to evade the dominant male, the hippo escaped,’ Cape Town Deputy Mayor Eddie Andrews told News24.
No injuries, damages or incidents were reported and the hippo, which was returned to its habitat around 2:40am, is said to be doing well.
The SPCA will return to the reserve in the week to check if proper measures were put in place to secure the property, ensuring no more animals are able to escape for a sneaky ‘walkabout’.
This, however, is not the first time a hippo was seen visiting its neighbours. One hippo wandered all the way from Rondevlei to the Zeekoeivlei area back in 2012 and the infamous Houdini who escaped in February 2004 managed to evade rangers for months until he was captured in December.
If this news travels to the far ends of the world, it’ll take a whole lot more to convince non-saffas that we don’t have wild animals roaming around in our backyards every day.
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Picture: Cape Flats Stories / Facebook