Hippopotami - Lake Saint Lucia Estuary
Taken at Lake Saint Lucia Estuary before the mouth rehabilitation program started..., the dunes behind the hippos in the first couple photos have since been removed clearing up 100's of years of topsoil buildup in the mouth due to farming operations further up the umfolozi river. Clearing this has rejoined the umolozi river to the estuary system as it was before farming along the banks of the umfolozi river started.
These pods of hippos are generally made up of a dominant bull, cows that have decided to be under his protection and young calves. When a pregnant mother is about to give birth, she will separate herself from the pod.
This is due to the fact that if the calf is born a male, the dominant bull will surely kill it there and then. When the calf is born and is a female the mother will rejoin the pod almost immediately for the security in numbers. If however the calf does end up being a male, she will stay a distance from the rest of the pod until the calf is more capable of escaping any attacks, even then this might not be enough. Young bulls that are raised by the pod, are eventually kicked out by the dominant bull.
Usually spending most of the day in the water due to their sensitive skin, they have been found roaming the banks of the estuary on cooler days.
another pod further up the Estuary inside iSimangaliso Wetland Park
These nocturnal animals spend their days resting and playing in the water, at night they can roam over 40km and graze on over a 100kg of grass and other plant matter.
These amazing animals can reach a speed of 60km an hour on land and up to 40 km an hour in the water, and are responsible for more deaths in Africa than any other wild animal.