JOHANNESBURG Aug 24 (Reuters) – A hippo named Solly trapped
for three days in a swimming pool at a South African game lodge
died on Friday in a failed rescue attempt broadcast on
nationwide TV.
Solly, thought to be about five years old, slipped into the
pool after being shunned by its pod in Limpopo province, about
160 kms (100 miles) north of Johannesburg. Its legs were not
long enough to climb out of the pool.
The rescue team tried to drain the pool, sedate Solly and
lift him out with a crane but he died in the operation.
Authorities have yet to determine the cause of death.
Video of Solly popping his head out of the brown water in
the pool over the past two days became a staple of TV news
bulletins, making the animal an instant national celebrity.
TV news channels also broadcast images of the dead
hippopotamus being hoisted out of the pool with a member of the
rescue team standing on the carcass.
“It started out as a happy story and now it’s a tragic
story. It’s devastating,” Ruby Ferreira, manager of the Monate
Conservation Lodge, where the hippo slipped into the pool, told
the SAPA news agency.
(Reporting by Jon Herskovitz)
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