Cape Town - Bambi the hippopotamus, who was found wandering along the Rondevlei section of False Bay Nature Reserve last year, has finally found a home.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the City of Cape Town said Bambi had been transported to its new home at Bergsig, a game farm in Mossel Bay, on June 22.
Staff found the hippo in November and thought it must have been pushed out of the main herd. The biodiversity management staff assessed the animal and found it ill and unresponsive to their presence.
An electric fence 3km in extent was erected to accommodate Bambi at the Strandfontein Cape Flats wastewater treatment works, where a veterinarian was brought in to assess it.
A capture plan had been in place since December, but the health and recuperation of the hippo was more important. The plan involved the construction of a wooden boma, which was completed in March. Bambi was allowed to continue to wander freely.
Bambi the hippo was found in November last year. Photo: CoCT
Bambi the hippo was found in November last year. Photo: CoCT
On June 22, the hippo entered the boma of its own accord and tripped the infrared beam that activated the closure of the boma door. The hippo was found in a calm state. With a veterinarian on site to monitor the proceedings, the hippo was loaded calmly onto a truck and by midnight was received at its new home.
Alderman Marian Niuewoudt, a member of the mayoral committee for spatial planning and environment, said she was proud of how the reserve staff had responded and ensured that the hippo was captured passively and successfully relocated.
Bambi was transported to Bergsig game farm, where in 2018 they had already enquired about sourcing a hippo as a companion for their own hippo.
Bambi has since met her new companion, named Fatboy, who she now spends most of her days with.