FOXSYLVANIA

 – – You might not want a hippopotamus for Christmas, regardless of what the irritating novelty song tells you.  Consider the case of South African farmer Marius Els who adopted at five months of age a male hippo rescued as a calf during a flood, and added him to his collection of 20 different exotic animals including giraffe and rhino that he kept on his farm.  Naming the hippo Humphrey, the former army major built a bond with the animal, considered him harmless, and was videotaped riding him.  Els was repeatedly warned that the hippo was still a wild animal and had to be treated with caution; incidents occurred where the hippo was blamed for killing calves and also broke out of his enclosure, chasing golfers at a nearby club.

The mutilated body of Marius Els was recently found in a river running through his property after the man was bitten several times by the hippo and then dragged underwater.  Hippos, you see, are highly territorial, and are considered one of the world’s most dangerous animals, commonly attacking humans with no apparent provocation, and usually using their enormous canine teeth to gouge their victims. 

The hippopotamus can weigh up to three tons, and travel at speeds of up to 30 mph…

This entry was posted on November 17, 2011 at 1:11 am and is filed under animal occurrences, animals, furry, furry stories. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.

Tags: dangerous exotic pets, Humphrey the hippo