Check out this video!
http://www.flixxy.com/pet-hippo.htm

Now I've seen everything!

OMG!! And I thought my dog was spoiled. I hope that hippo is housetrained, I would hate to clean up her mess. :-&

This video makes me quite sad for Jessica - she should be with a hippo pod, not being fed food constantly by these people. She is so used to humans, I hope it is not her downfall down the track, as she would walk or swim up to them, and people may take that as aggression and react by shooting her!

I saw a video quite a while ago, of a similar story, although I thought the hippo newborn was Tinkerbell!

I understand saving her life, I do not understand why they keep her there, and they do by the constant feeding - who wouldn't stay at a constant food source with all that hands on attention. I am animal obsessed but involving her so much with humans seems a mistake, as a time will come when nature will take over.

I also worry, as she still is a wild animal, not a member of their family, and if she reacts down the track, it may well be held against her, not seen as something the people caused to begin with - poor Jessica will take the blame!

Kind regards

Kaye

they love her, and that justifies it for them. they feel that feeding her and giving her a home shows their love.

It will be interesting to see how they all manage when she is full grown. Or when she is hungry and they decide not to feed her. Or when she takes a hand off in gulping down a yummy. Then, it will be decided that she is dangerous, and you know what happens next.

agree with Kaye and mom. She's still a wild animal at heart and she is the one who will pay the price when she reverts back to her natural state of mind. She looks happy now, but...
cool video though, wouldn't want her in my kitchen!

Hi momliz

I would love her to, but to love an wild animal you do not need to have her in your kitchen! I love a lot of animals, but only my domestic dog is in my kitchen!

Unfortunately, there are thinking of themselves, not Jessica and my heart bleeds for her future! Because a time will come, when she is called back to the wild! The poor thing will be a target as she is too human friendly, and while I appreciate them saving her originally, I do not think they should be praised for their "love" now!

Poor Jessica!

Kind regards

Kaye

Completely agree. I did find the part about her visiting the hippo pod downriver interesting.

I posted about Jessica last December when we returned to the US. We spent a morning with her in early December. I won't debate the issue of her associating with humans but I will say it is completely her choice. She also spends time with the wild hippos but returns to the family. It is simplistic to say she returns for food. Look at the video and you will see she is truely happy there. After all the hippos who are in zoos are released, then I'll worry about Jessica's situtation.

As for danger, she is probably safe where she is. She does not go far enough down the river to encounter other humans. The family who rescued her is trying to establish a hippos reserve along a larger section of the river so the wild hippos will also be protected and are hoping the attention Jessica is receiving while generate support for it.

My time with her was one of highlights of our 7 month trip.

Kaye, I was not at all trying to justify that families' efforts to keep/domesticate Jessica. I think it is appalling that people would choose that way to demonstrate their love for a wild animal - particularly one that will be unmanageable soon. Feeding a squirrel, or songbirds is one thing, but a hippo? that's just ridiculous. And, actually, it has been demonstrated that the backyard feeding of wild birds, from all the well meaning bird lovers out there (and, I must admit that I am one from time to time) has changed where many birds live - the house finch (I think it's the house finch) never used to be as prevalent in the Mid Atlantic states as it is now. And, look at the canada gooses migration patterns - they are a pest now all summer in the Wash DC suburbs. But, with all the free food they love it - it's just like McDonald's everywhere. People only think that food equals love - the end result speaks otherwise.

I don't know where this "one that will be unmanageable soon" stuff is coming from. Jessica is full-grown. Her personality has not changed as she has matured. If you have some special knowledge about a coming change in her behavior, I am sure the family would like to know about it. Her website is here:

http://www.jessicahippo.co.za/

and you can get contact information there so you can warn them.

As for birds changing their distribution, that's true but many other human activities have also changed their environment and removed natural food sources and breeding areas. The house finch was originally a bird of the southwest and was introduced to the northeast by humans in the 1940s and quickly spread. Since it has only been around the east for 60 years the distribution has been changing as they spread out but not necessarily as a result of feeding.

Jessica is just entering her sexual maturity, so they would not know how she will behave, especially with the birth of a baby. She is also an animal who should be with her own kind, which is not a human family, no matter how well intended they are.

Since they have fed and cared for her since she was one day old, forgive me for saying, it is her choice! Of course, she returns for food, plus they are her security blanket as they have given the feeling of part of her family - the woman even said she is like a daughter!!!

I do not like animals in zoos particularly, but what a ridiculous notion to release them all, then worry about Jessica - damage to Jessica has already been done as have animals in the zoos, most of which I imagine would have been captive bred - quite different and hardly what we are talking about now!

If she goes off on her own, you would not know if she comes into contact with people, so she is in danger, because of the fact that she is unafraid of humans and may approach for food.

If seeing her was a highlight, that is a shame!

Kind regards

Kaye

How can any person show away a 1 day old hippo arriving on your doorstep? Honestly it will be a heartless person to turn around and walk away.
I think this family is doing a lovely job helping Jessica becoming a "normal" hippo. I think we should rather use the opportunity and learn from this, things that we will never know about Hippos because we cannot get that close to them in their natural environment.
Like "tuckeg" said she is spending time with the wild hippos but it is her choice to come back, I'm sure she is not only eating the little treats that the people give to her? Why not enjoy the fact that this family actually successfully raised a wild animal, instead of truning a blind eye.
Look at all the people that have done it before:
1. John Varty with Shingalana the lioness, also Jamu the leopard
2. Diane Fosy saved and looked after Gorilla infants, and observed valuable information from them.
3. Elephant back safaris in Botswana had the well known Jabu.
4. Stanleys camp in Botswana have 3 elephants that you can go walking with.
Just to name a few.
As long as this family is aware of the dangers involved in dealing with a wild animal, I cannot see what the fuss is about. Lets all rather be happy for one little life that can better ours. Why criticise a place if you have not been there! "tuckeg" visiting Jessica was a highlight for me as well!

rafikimilly

There is a huge difference to helping a day old hippo and having it around for 7 years and treating it as a member of your family when it is a wild animal! That is a reason for wildlife rescue centres, who would rescue and if possible, return the animal to the wild.

Jessica is far from a "normal" hippo. When an animal is in the wild, she would learn and experience so many things by living within her family and from members of her pod, things she would need to live her life successfully.

They have not raised a wild animal - a wild animal, unless threatened, would generally be fearful of people, not looking for them for a drink of weak sweet coffee twice a day!

I do feel very strongly about people trying to domesticate wild animals and then a tragic accident can happen, and what happens - the poor animal pays the price!

Believe me, I am not happy about it at all - this is something people did 20-30 years ago when we did not know better!

I feel for Jessica and what may become of her in the future!

Kind regards

Kaye

I am willing to bet that Jessica's life span will exceed that of the average "wild" hippo in that area as many are shot each year by farmers so perhaps you should do more handringing for them. "Tragic" accidents to an animal like Jessica are no more tragic than the deaths that occur to animals in the wild.

Very interesting video.

As for judging whether it's right, wrong or indifferent, I'm not enough of a hippo expert to toss in an opinion.
Thanks for sharing.

KayeN, my feelings are very similar to yours. But after reading the blog, I realized the situation is not as it appears in the video. While the way they raised her was not ideal, her life is not nearly as domesticated as it looks. I think you'd find the blog interesting.