4 August 2012
Last updated at 10:35 GMT
The pool was being drained so the hippo could be tranquilised and lifted out by a crane.
Earlier the lodge's manager told the BBC the animal had been in some distress as the pool was being emptied.
The hippo took to the pool, which has no steps, at the Monate Conservation Lodge, north of Johannesburg, on Tuesday.
South Africa's National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals told the Associated Press agency the four-year-old hippo was forced from its pod by dominant males.
Lodge manager Ruby Ferreira told the BBC's Newsday programme that the hippo, named Solly, had been quite happy swimming in the pool, which is 2m (6.5ft) deep, 10m long and 5m wide.
But she said the hippo had become "stressed" on Friday morning as the pool was drained in preparation for its rescue.
The water had to be drained to prevent the hippo from drowning when sedated.
Wildlife rescue expert Simon Prinsloo told AP the young hippo had died even though water was being poured on the animal to keep it hydrated.
A vet who was to tranquilise the hippo arrived at the scene nearly four hours late and could not save him, Eyewitness News reports.
"We've been waiting all morning. I'm very heartbroken at the loss of Solly," Ms Ferreira told Eyewitness News.
South African hippo dies before pool rescue
A hippopotamus which had been stuck in a swimming pool of a game reserve lodge in northern South Africa for four days has died.
According to South Africa's Eyewitness News, it died before it was sedated to remove it from the pool.The pool was being drained so the hippo could be tranquilised and lifted out by a crane.
Earlier the lodge's manager told the BBC the animal had been in some distress as the pool was being emptied.
The hippo took to the pool, which has no steps, at the Monate Conservation Lodge, north of Johannesburg, on Tuesday.
South Africa's National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals told the Associated Press agency the four-year-old hippo was forced from its pod by dominant males.
Lodge manager Ruby Ferreira told the BBC's Newsday programme that the hippo, named Solly, had been quite happy swimming in the pool, which is 2m (6.5ft) deep, 10m long and 5m wide.
But she said the hippo had become "stressed" on Friday morning as the pool was drained in preparation for its rescue.
The water had to be drained to prevent the hippo from drowning when sedated.
Wildlife rescue expert Simon Prinsloo told AP the young hippo had died even though water was being poured on the animal to keep it hydrated.
A vet who was to tranquilise the hippo arrived at the scene nearly four hours late and could not save him, Eyewitness News reports.
"We've been waiting all morning. I'm very heartbroken at the loss of Solly," Ms Ferreira told Eyewitness News.
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário