Hippopotamus ‘Hamsini’ dies in Shivamogga zoo

Hippopotamus ‘Hamsini’, 12, who attacked trainee veterinarian Sameeksha Reddy on the night of March 19, resulting in the doctor’s death subsequently, succumbed to her illness at the Tyavarekoppa zoo-cum-safari near here on Tuesday.  

Sameeksha was attacked by the hippo when she was returning from the animal’s enclosure after checking her temperature through a thermal imaging camera as she had stopped taking food. Later, she died in a hospital.  

The post-mortem of Hamsini will be conducted in the zoo on Wednesday.

Veterinary officer Anand from Bengaluru zoo was treating her in the zoo after she had a miscarriage and he had consulted veterinary gynaecologists. They suggested that caesarean was the only option to remove the dead foetus from her uterus. But it could not be performed, considering her condition.

Hamsini had an infection in the uterus and subsequently multi-organ infection, which resulted in her death. She was not taking medication. Three hippopotamuses have died in the zoo in the last three years.   

With Hamsini’s death, the efforts of the zoo staff to get a calf from the lone surviving female hippopotamus to enhance the population of the species have gone in vain.

Vishnu, aged 9 years, is the lone hippo available for public viewing in the zoo now.