Villagers shoot and feast on 'troublesome' hippo

One of the hunters who helped track down and kill a hippo that had been threatening villagers and allegedly damaging their crops, admitted that the animal was cut up and its meat shared among villagers on Monday.

Azwihangwisi Tshandamule of Makhuvha village outside Thohoyandou, Limpopo, told Sowetan's sister publication TimesLIVE that the animal was spotted several times at a river near the village last week.

He said some villagers claimed they were afraid to walk around in the evening because of the wild animal. 

“It was roaming around the village as if it was a cow,” said Tshandamule. 

Resident Ngereza Netshifhefhe said talks of the animal in the area were initially thought to be just a rumour until a hunter spotted its footprints at the river.  

Netshifhefhe said local hunters worked out from its footprints that it was a hippo. He  said some of the local children said they too had spotted a hippo at the river.  

At the weekend it was apparently seen feeding in a homestead garden with its calf.  

“[A woman of the house] tried to call people to help, but the hippo ran [back] to the river,” he said.

The next day, two hippos and a calf were spotted. That’s when the hunt for the animal ensued.

Hunters headed to the river, where they camped in anticipation. One of the hippos was killed on Thursday evening.

“It was then pulled out of the river, and community members sharpened their knives to get their piece of the meat,” he said.  

The action of the community has been deemed illegal as no relevant authority was contacted about a "troublesome" hippo.

Jimmy van Zyl of Hunting Safaris in Limpopo said incidents where residents hunted for animals such as the hippopotamus were seldom in the province.  

He said usually when such animals were spotted, nature conservation would contact the hunting community for assistance. This after the matter had been reported to local authorities.

“Mostly nature conservation [officials] will go [the community which reported the matter]; and if it’s a problem they will shoot [the animal] and give it to the community,” Van Zyl said.  

He said a legal hunt for a hippo would cost about R80,000.