Late-night shenanigans are over for Scar, the hippopotamus that escaped from the Rondevlei section of False Bay Nature Reserve earlier this month.
On Saturday 13 April, Grassy Park residents were surprised to see the hippo walking the streets in the early hours of the morning.
In a statement last week, the City of Cape Town announced that Scar will be relocated to a new area due to conflict among the resident hippo pod.
Deputy Mayor Eddie Andrews explained that the hippo escaped from the reserve to evade the dominant male.
“Rondevlei’s original dominant male is impressively still present, which requires the need to relocate some of the older male offspring to protect them from the dominant male’s effort to remove the threat they pose to his dominance in the pod.
“Naturally, hippo pods contain approximately 10 to 15 individuals and comprise of one dominant male and females with calves. As the male calves come of age, they would naturally disperse to find their own territory.”
He added that the City has in the past successfully implemented relocation operations.
False Bay Nature Reserve boasts a legendary hippo population that was introduced to Rondevlei in 1981.
Over the past four decades, the hippos formed a critical part of the wetland ecology under the watchful eye of the City’s biodiversity management team.
Given the ongoing threat to their wetland habitat and the highly threatened terrestrial Fynbos Biome habitats, they form a critical part of the ecosystem.
“This pod of hippopotamuses gives us a glimpse into the past, reminding us of the natural heritage of the Fynbos Biome and the magnificence of what Cape Town used to be prior to the development of the city. We proudly continue our vigilant care of these unique creatures, and I encourage Capetonians to come take a look at them at Rondevlei,” said Andrews.
Around 300 years ago, hippos, an ecosystem engineer, were hunted to extinction in Cape Town.
Through the great vision of dedicated conservation biologists two males were re-introduced to the Rondevlei section of the False Bay Nature Reserve in 1981.
In 1983, two females joined the pod and thus the initiative of restoring some of the natural heritage began.
“These hippos have shaped the False Bay Nature Reserve since their re-introduction and we are proud to have them persist in this urban environment,” says Andrews.
The main reason for the hippos re-introduction to the False Bay Nature Reserve was to control the invasive Seashore Paspalum (Paspalum vaginatum) which was transforming the wetland habitats at Rondevlei.
They were quick to oblige and this horrible invasive was quickly put in check.
The young male hippo will be transported in a special container for his relocation.
“The City will inform the public once the relocation operation has been concluded, the timeline is variable as the capture depends on the animal’s movements and environmental factors,” added Andrews.
- Hippos are endemic to Africa, they do not naturally occur anywhere else in the world.
- Their semi-aquatic nature can make them difficult to see during the day, when they are in their wetland habitat.
- It is primarily at night when they venture out of the water to graze on grass in the surrounding areas.
- Hippos need relatively large foraging ranges as they consume 25 to 40 kg of plant material a day.
- Globally, hippos are classified as vulnerable to extinction and while South Africa’s population is not classified as threatened, they face multiple threats including habitat loss, poaching, human-wildlife conflict, climate change, and unregulated trade.
