Marius Els and Humphrey the hippo

“Humphrey’s like a son to me, he’s just like a human. There’s a special relationship between me and Humphrey”. These words were uttered by Klerksdorp farmer, Marius Els earlier this year. Pictures were also taken of him happily riding on his 1 200kg pet bull hippo’s back. But on Saturday night, Humphrey the hippo gouged Els to death by repeatedly biting him.

Els had apparently been repeatedly warned that although friendly, Humphrey was still a wild animal and had to be treated as such. The hippo was rescued as a calf during a flood of the Vaal River, which passes the land where Els farmed part-time.

In August, Humphrey was in the news when it was blamed for killing calves belonging to Els’s business partner. It also regularly broke out of its enclosure and chased golfers at the Orkney golf club. At the time, Els said that the calf story had been intended to put him in a bad light after his business relationship with his partner soured, and that Humphrey’s escapades on the golf course were to brighten up his social life.

Humphrey’s dangerous side was again displayed in March this year when he tried to attack two canoeists as they made their way down the Vaal river. A 52-year-old man and his seven-year-old grandson were forced to scramble out of their canoe and climb a tree when they were approached by Humphrey. Mr Els eventually managed to lure the hippo away with an apple, explaining that he had only approached the pair because he was hungry.

A spokesman for one of South Africa’s private ambulance services revealed that his staff were called to Mr Els’ farm late on Saturday evening. “Paramedics responded to the scene to find that the man had been bitten several times by the animal and had also been immersed in the river for an unknown period,” Jeffrey Wicks said.

[Source: News24]