By Jade Witten
He may have run away from home because of a family dispute, but the Rondevlei hippo is not moving an inch just yet.
Conservationists have built a funnel and gates to lure the close to 800kg hippo from his current location in the Cape Flats Waste Water Works in Zandvlei back to his family territory at the Rondevlei Nature Reserve.
The youngster, estimated to be around four years old, was forced out of his herd by his father weeks ago.
"When young male hippos become sexually mature, they threaten their fathers. The younger male will then look for a new territory. There are signs that he (the hippo) was attacked by his father," said Penny Glanville, manager of the Rondevlei Nature Reserve.
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She said that when about 20m of fencing was stolen from the southern section of the Zeekoevlei Nature Reserve a couple of weeks ago, the hippo had taken the opportunity to look for "greener pastures".
The "safe and happy" hippo has not been named because his personality has not shone through yet, Glanville said.
In 2004 another hippo who wandered out of the Rondevlei Nature Reserve was named "Houdini" because of his constant disappearing acts.
The elusive two-year-old calf was eventually captured after a 10-month effort.
On Tuesday Glanville, three UK volunteers and a team of four staff members started building a gate and a one-way funnel aimed at getting the hippo back into the Rondevlei Nature Reserve.
The funnel is 5m at the mouth and 1.8m at the other end.
Glanville said that because the hippo was a wild animal, his behaviour was completely unpredictable and it could take him a couple of weeks or months, like with Houdini, to return to the reserve.
"Staff members have been monitoring the bull's behaviour and position for the past four days," she said.
If passive luring methods fail, conservationists will have to use "active methods" including darting and netting.
Glanville said the hippo was in an area that is not frequented by people.
- This article was originally published on page 3 of Cape Argus on February 11, 2009
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