Road users at St Lucia, in the Umkhanyakude District of northern KwaZulu-Natal, were left stunned as a pair of hippopotamuses were seen casually strolling in the town.
The pair of hippos caused quite a stir, bringing traffic to a standstill as motorists allowed them to cross the street.
Claudia Wieman posted a video on TikTok titled, “Crazy things in South Africa 😱”.
@claudiawieman Just a hippo wandering around St. Lucia on a Saturday night 🦛🇿🇦 #hippo #southafrica #zuidafrika #nijlpaard #hippos #stlucia #fyp @joannauniwersal99 ♬ Big And Chunky - will.i.am
In the video’s caption, Wieman said, “Just a hippo wandering around St Lucia on a Saturday night.”
Wieman’s video has received more than 75K views since it was posted.
One TikTok user, Sku, said: “I know an American is watching this thinking it’s an everyday occurrence.”
Another user, Chantel Skosana, responded: “Do people know how dangerous hippos are? 😭😭😭 why are they so close 😭😭😭😭.”
Mabel also commented: “Are we slowly turning into Australia? what’s happening? 😭💀.”
St Lucia is a wildlife haven and Lake St Lucia is the centrepiece of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park. The abundance of wildlife and natural beauty makes it a popular tourist destination.
It was also declared a Unesco World Heritage Site.
According to stluciasouthafrica.com, hippos wandering the town’s streets at night in search of grass is a normal occurrence.
Hippos are among the most dangerous land animals, killing around 500 people in Africa every year, so caution is advised when coming into contact with these giants.