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South Africa: Wandering hippo goes surfing
Richards Bay residents were surprised to see a hippo going for a stroll on the beach and enjoying some surfing before wandering off again.

The adult hippo was seen frolicking in the waves at Alkantstrand. After his departure, a crocodile - the second in less than two months - was also seen on the beach.

Although not an everyday occurrence, hippos have been reported to enjoy surfing.

"It is real enough, but it is not common," said Jeff Gaisford, an Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife spokesman.

Gabon on the West Coast of Africa is famous for its "surfing hippos". But even in Gabon, visitors have to be patient as the hippos don't go swimming every day.

Gaisford said hippos were not known for their fondness of sea water, but if they were displaced they could end up in the surf if it was the closest water source.

They also sometimes travelled great distances, as did Huberta, the famous hippo who made an epic trek from St Lucia to King William's Town in the late 1920s.

Gaisford said young males and old bulls were pushed out of the herd, and that may have been what had happened to the Richards Bay hippo. The beach was closed for bathing on October 10 and 11 until the animal had left the area.

The majority of hippos are restricted to conservation areas and are on the list of vulnerable species.

Dalton Gibbs, from the Species Project, said that although hippos did not generally swim in the sea, they did live in estuaries, hence the Afrikaans name seekoei - directly translated as "sea cow".

"They do not drink seawater, but it is possible that they use the salt water to get rid of parasites such as leeches," Gibbs said.

Leon Rheeder, a Richards Bay resident, said: "About six weeks ago a logging truck had to swerve to avoid hitting a hippo and ended up in a ditch on the main road between Arboretum and Meerensee."

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