10th September 2000
We’re beginning to wonder if Tjololo hasn’t been attacked by a virus again. Although he moved a fair distance last night covering his southern and western river boundaries he did so at a slow pace resting up frequently. The one time after resting for about an hour he moved about 10 minutes before resting again. But then soon after this around dawn he moved for a couple of hours in the river and I was lucky to film him walking tentatively through some shallow water. Like all cats he didn’t want to get his feet wet but had no option and gingerly he put each foot forward hoping it wouldn’t sink into the water.
Early in the evening when he was out of reach in the reedbeds, in the distance we faintly heard a constant low bellowing and went to investigate. About 3kms away we heard 2 hippos fighting in the reeds but they stopped just before we got to them. We did get to see one of the contestants and he was a bloody mess with major wounds around his neck and shoulders. We don’t know if he was the victor or loser as both animals would probably have sustained such wounds. Hippo although grazers, also have 4 teeth about a foot long and these are sharp and do major damage. These hippo bulls were probably fighting over territory.
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