Hippo Escape at Parco Natura Viva Ends in Fatal Shooting
It ended in bloodshed—the nocturnal adventure of Lolita, a seven-year-old female hippopotamus hosted at the Safari Park, the area of Parco Natura Viva that visitors access exclusively via cars or buses.
Lolita, one of eleven hippopotami born in captivity at the zoo, during the middle of the night, thanks to her considerable size—approximately 25 quintals—and the remarkable agility species are capable of (they can reach speeds of 50 kilometers per hour), broke down gates and three fences, seeking refuge among the rows of a vineyard bordering the zoo.
Her escape was halted with bursts of gunfire from the Carabinieri of the mobile radio unit of Peschiera. “There was no other option,” said Cesare Avesani, head of Parco Natura Viva.
The attempt to tranquilize the hippopotamus
“We considered tranquilizing the animal but there were not enough guarantees to ensure public safety. This operation—even under ideal conditions—is quite difficult; the syringe containing the tranquilizer must strike with great precision a small area on the animal’s hind thigh. Even if everything goes perfectly, there is always a certain margin of risk. Additionally, there were visibility issues (we were in the middle of the night) and we seriously risked losing sight of the animal, which was visibly distressed,” explains Cesare Avesani.
“I became alarmed because the dogs kept barking,” recounts Claudio Castellani, who lives in Rotti, a rural courtyard on the hills between Bussolengo and Sandrà, just a few hundred meters from Parco Natura Viva.
The discovery and tragic conclusion
“Around midnight, I managed to spot a huge silhouette among the vines. It was the hippopotamus grazing on the grass. At that point, we called the Carabinieri and the park management,” he says.
“The technicians and veterinarians from the park immediately warned us of the danger we faced,” continues Castellani. “Then the animal started to become agitated and shake its head. There was danger it might end up on the Brenner Motorway passing nearby or on the road connecting Sandrà to Pastrengo, only half a kilometer away.”
At that point, the military personnel arrived. “The animal died instantly and did not suffer,” states Cesare Avesani.
“The Carabinieri carried out excellent work, acting with composure and great precision; this is the only consolation in a situation that I deeply regret,” he adds.
The causes of the escape and the handling of the body
What caused Lolita’s escape? “She entered into conflict with her mother,” explains Avesani. “Her instinct led her to seek breeding with the only male in the group—her father. For this reason, a conflict arose that led to these consequences.”
Raising hippopotami is one of the most challenging tasks for a zoo. In captivity, controlling births is impossible since no effective system has been successfully tested to date.
Managing group dynamics is also highly problematic, especially if high standards of animal welfare are to be maintained in semi-natural environments. Certainly, these issues would not arise if animals lived in confined and fortified spaces, but that would be nonsensical.
Nonetheless, maximum efforts are being made to minimize risks, and a new habitat for the hippopotamus colony is already being planned.
The handling of the carcass
Lolita was buried in a large hole dug within a designated area of the zoo, with the authorization of the mayor Lino Venturini, as no company was equipped to dispose of the massive carcass.
