Hippo kills calf at Bannerghatta park

Known to be indifferent to their offspring, the hippopotamuses at Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP) surprised everyone a few months ago by caring for their newborns. But on Tuesday, things were back to square one, with 12-year-old hippo Vidya killing her two-day-old calf.

The BBP officials attributed the death to a “stampede” within the enclosure.

Realising that stress was taking a toll on the hippos owing to the small enclosure, the BBP officials had recently shifted two hippos to a new enclosure. The move helped, with the hippos attending to calves at the old pen. But much to their dismay, the latest tragedy was reported from the new enclosure.

According to BBP sources, the calf was born on July 15. It died due to “stampede by its mother”, said an official release. Caretakers at the zoo maintained that the deaths were not new as Vidya had killed her calves earlier also. “The latest was her sixth litter. She had killed five calves. The only lucky male calf (now three-year-old) is housed at Pilikula Nisargadhama in Mangaluru,” a BBP staffer said.

The employees revealed that in the last two years, female hippos have failed to nurture their offspring and often rolled over the newborns, killing them on the spot. This absurd behaviour had forced officials to evolve new strategies. Accordingly, they decongested the pen by shifting a few hippos to the new enclosure.

Dr Umashankar, veterinarian at BBP, said, “The death of calves is normal among hippos, owing to their large size. But there is ample space in the new enclosure. This was a sheer accident. In fact, Vidya was groaning for long. We will monitor the situation and take all measures to keep her happy.”

The postmortem report revealed that the calf suffered muscle bruises and internal organ haemorrhages, especially of lungs and heart. The calf had no other infectious cause. The samples have also been sent to IAH&VB. The postmortem report also revealed that the death was due to asphyxiation and respiratory arrest.