On Mon, 15 Nov 2004 20:23:08 -0800, LS wrote:
>
> I was wondering, do people go on special tours to see hippos? I would
> think they would not be allowed, because I heard that hippos have been
> known to bite both people and boats into two. Thank you for your
> insight!
Hippos are normally very placid beasts. They become ferocious only under
certain circumstances : when you surprise them or when you get too close
from their youngs. I paddled down the Zambezi in canoe and our river guide
knew how to steer clear of places where unseen hippos may be lounging
underwater, mostly places with not too much current and adequate depth so
that the hippo can stand underwater but not too deep either. When in doubt
about hippo presence he would hit the water with a paddle to make noise
and so make sure that the hippo know we are coming. Sometime a hippo head
would indeed emerge. I don't know much about how the hippo behave on land,
but they do not go out of the water much often in daytime anyway.
We stopped by a rangers station halfways between Mana Pools and Kanyemba.
Near their station, the rangers were keeping as a keepsake the pieces of a
fiberglass canoe broken in two to remind visitors that carelessness with
wildlife is dangerous. In that particular incident the people manning the
canoe escaped unharmed, but fatalities have also been recorded.
|
