Tonga, an 11 year old hippo arrived at the SanWild Wildlife Sanctuary on Friday after undertaking a 26 hour long African safari that saw the hippo leave a temporary holding facility in France on Wednesday morning. From Paris the hippo travelled by road to Schipol airport from where it boarded a KLM flight for the OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg. The Brigitte Bardot Foundation is picking up the cost of Tonga’s transfer by truck to Amsterdam, where it was loaded onto a cargo plane for Johannesburg.
The road journey from Johannesburg to the SanWild Wildlife Sanctuary was not without incident, but fortunately Tonga arrived safely after a blow out on one of the front tyres of the transportation truck and some electrical wiring problems earlier on.The 12th of January 2007 the Court of Annecy ordered the confiscation of five lions, a tiger, five snakes and the two-ton Tonga because the animals were found to be severely neglected. The Zavata Circus also failed to provide proper veterinary care to the animals, which in the case of Tonga led to dental problems. The SanWild Wildlife Trust received a request to accept the male hippo for rehabilitation back to the wild early in January this year from the Foundation Assistance aux Animaux in Paris and preparations for the hippos arrival started within days after the hippo was confiscated.
A second male hippo will follow in Tonga’s footsteps within weeks to join Tonga in the reserve. Both hippos will enter a rehabilitation and acclimatization program that will see them released back to the wild within a couple of months.
Prepared by the SanWild Wildlife Trust
Tel: +27 (0) 15-3187900/1
Mobile +27 (0) 833103882
Websites: www.sanwild.org and www.afritrust.com
