HIPPO ON THE GO!! – BY GARETH JONES

Some years ago it was getting late on a cloudy day and almost becoming evening, and being tired after a long day, I rode slowly but purposefully through the park, not really putting extra effort into looking. Then suddenly a huge shape appeared from behind a bush on my right, it was a hippo feasting on the lush green grass that had grown after the recent rains. Clearly the Hippo was not amused that “dinner” had been interrupted, and made short hippo grunts while running in half circles and then turning towards me, as if to say “come on, move away and leave me in peace!” Well I did listen to the hippo’s ‘body language’ message, and left the beast to feast into the night.

On another occasion early one morning I drove though the Langata forest, on a chilly dull overcast day. Suddenly a huge shape appeared in an open area on my left, it was a hippo lying down resting, no doubt after a night of feasting on the lush green forest grasses due to the recent good rains. The hippo lay still for a few minutes, but then stood up as another vehicle passed next to me, looking at me with an almost smiley bemused expression, the huge hulk of a hippo slowly turned and retreated into thicker bush. Wow! what a great and unusual sighting to see such a “surprise guest” in the forest. I thought for a moment on how ironic it was that the hippo appeared to be “smiling” as a “hippo on the go”, while in fact it is a very dangerous animal.

It was Sunday 30th of August 2015, we sat peacefully watching various bird and animal species come and drink at a small dam amongst some sand mounds, including an old hippo who lay there almost asleep in the shallow pool, no doubt lulled by the warmth of the mid-morning sun. Suddenly the peaceful scene was shattered by the appearance of a large safari vehicle. The driver of this vehicle almost immediately started revving the vehicle engine ….in a continued noisy series of …high rev ..low rev… high rev… while driving in a 360 degree circle around the dam. Sitting next to the driver was a tourist who was taking action photos, because the continued revving sequence disturbed and angered the hippo, enough to make it thrash about in the water and do a few warning charges at the revving safari vehicle.

Clearly the old Hippo was not amused that he had been rudely interrupted, and we were also very unimpressed at this illegal behavior. The driver arrogantly broke the following KWS rules with the selfish intent of merely trying to get an action moment for the tourist to take a photo of the hippo. 1) Respect the privacy of the wildlife, this is their habitat. 2) Don’t crowd the animals or make sudden noises or movements. 3) Keep quiet, noise disturbs the wildlife and may antagonize your fellow visitors. 4) Never drive off-road, this severely damages the habitat.

When informing the driver of his wrongful actions. The well dressed driver informed me that “ I know there are rules, but you should all be happy that I helped you all get good photos.“ Such an attitude is not what should come from a reputable hotel, as the Safari vehicle yellow Toyota Land Cruiser was from the Weston Hotel. Safari drivers/guides should not be people that are abusive, but instead they should be the very people that are ambassadors for Kenya by setting an example of how to behave properly at all times. It should be noted that the matter resolved when the Western Hotel Management was informed and the driver was counselled and disciplined.

Late in the afternoon a few years ago, I was very surprised to find a large hippo in the No7–Karen Primary Dam. So with the vehicle off I sat and watched for a while. The hippo put on quite a few performances, firstly erupting with head out of the water, and then rolling over and over with its pink stomach in the air, it seems to be really enjoying itself. But then it sat quietly as if and bit moody and deep in thought. Suddenly a stork arrived and began feeding along the edge of the dam, the hippo swam up very close to the stork, and followed it for some distance. The stork just continued feeding, and the Hippo was very calm. After a few minutes the stork walked away, and the hippo sat quietly, all alone again. As humans it is difficult to fathom animal thoughts, but in my opinion this lonely Hippo was definitely seeking a companion to befriend, even if it be a feathered friend!

Friday 18th June 2010 was an interesting day …….first an email from Rob Allen to say that 3 lions had been eating on a buffalo carcass for the last 3 days at the waters edge of the Eland Valley dam…….then in the late afternoon a phone call from Dave Mc Kelvie to say that he was at the dam watching the lions …I then left the office and headed towards the East gate. When I arrived at the dam, the lions were sitting quietly on top of a mound, and the hippos were deep in the water, with the buffalo carcass visible on the opposite bank of the dam…I sat and watched them for some time ….eventually the Hippos began to move towards the buffalo carcass, and came out of the water and over the carcass, from a distance it was difficult to see exactly what they were doing, but they appeared to be licking/muzzling the carcass on quite a few occasions. I then moved closer to the buffalo carcass by taking the back track past the dam wall, as I stopped the hippo retreated into the water ….. so I sat quietly and waited ….after some time the lions began to move towards the Buffalo carcass (a lioness with 2 sub-adult cubs), they each ate briefly on the carcass, and I could see they were all very full from the feasting. Then the hippos began to advance while the lions were at the buffalo carcass, they boldly came out of the water, and the lions immediately timidly retreated. The Hippos then repeated the cycle of licking & muzzling the buffalo carcass, it was again difficult to see from where I was parked, because the carcass was on the water’s edge and partly hidden by the bank and long grass plus it was getting dark, but the hippos spent some time over the buffalo, and through my binoculars there were times when I observed the hippos’ tongues left sticking out. A truly fascinating event to witness …however this did get me thinking …..firstly how did the buffalo (it appeared to be a cow) die on the edge of the dam? …Was it alone past the time ? …Was it weakened so that a single lioness with 2 half grown cubs could kill it ? …or did it die of another cause at the water’s edge ? ….it’s hard to tell …..then also the actions of the Hippos were really amazing …were they trying the get mineral nutrients like body salts etc from the buffalo carcass? Hippos are not known to eat meat. What is also particularly amazing is that location of this natural event in the Nairobi National Park. The Eland Valley Dam is less that 1km from the park boundary, and approx 1.5km from the East Gate.

Nairobi Park has hippo in various dams and in the Mbagathi River. If people sometimes sit quietly at a dam where hippos are present, they often start to perform as they cavort in the water, sometimes small babies can also be seen. Even though hippos can look somewhat comical at times with green material on their heads, and we sing amusing songs like “ Mud mud glorious mud, nothing quite like it for cooling the blood“, in reality Hippo’s have a nasty reputation in Africa for being the mammal that on average kills the most people every year, this is mostly because of their aggressive nature when they are out of the water feeding, while people are collecting water in the early morning or late afternoons. The situation has become particularly tense in some parts of Africa as human populations increase and water resources decrease.

A visit to the Hippo pools in the park is a worthwhile and rewarding experience, there is much to see there including birds, monkeys and other species, but please do not venture alone, hippos are dangerous creatures, armed rangers will escort you. Yes indeed! the hippo is another amazing creation.

The park is open daily from 06h00 to 19h00.

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