Montenegro's Nikica the hippo heading home

20/01/2010

The fugitive, mud-loving hippo heads back to her resort after a week on the lam in southern Montenegro.

By Marina Roganovic for Southeast European Times in Plavnica -- 20/01/10

Nikica can eat 50kg of bread a day. [Getty Images]

Nikica, currently the world's most famous hippopotamus, will be back in her home at the Plavnica resort in southern Montenegro by sundown Wednesday (January 20th).

The 11-year-old, two-tonne hippo made international headlines on January 12th when her compound on Skadar Lake flooded after weeks of torrential rains, allowing her to swim over the barrier and wander into nearby villages.

By Wednesday afternoon, the water is expected to recede enough for Nikica to amble back to her pen.

Reporters around the world filed stories on Nikica's run for freedom. "Children in the village have been told to stay indoors," The Times Online reported. "A spokesman for Montenegro's Natural Disasters Commission, which responds to floods, said the law requires them to kill animals that can endanger human lives," the Canadian Press said.

Authorities in Montenegro, however, promised not to harm Nikica unless she attacks somebody. "When the water warms up and does not seem so threatening, she will return of her own free will," said one zookeeper. "She loves mud more than life itself."

Despite fears that Nikica might trigger an international border incident by crossing into Albania, which shares Skadar Lake with Montenegro and is only 15km from the Plavnica resort, she was found lounging poolside before night fell on the day she ran away.

"Nikica can survive on a diet of grass, but she has a fondness for bread, so [began heading home] when she got hungry," said Dragan Pejovic, owner of the resort. Nikica has been known to eat as much as 50kg of bread a day.

Native to Africa, hippos are vegetarians. They are the third largest land animal and fiercely territorial. Hippos can run faster than the average human over short distances, and have powerful teeth and jaws.

A few residents of nearby villages complained that Nikica was a "dangerous beast". However, Vesna Djurovic put out hay and bread for the big vegetarian. "She is a beautiful, gentle girl who would not harm anyone, and I love her," she said.

"Nikica does not represent a threat to anyone," said Pejovic, "unless someone attacks and kicks her." While her grassy compound remained submerged, Nikica took leisurely swims and long walks. "There was not a lot we could do to prevent her from going for a little walk or a swim. Although we know she is harmless, we always had at least two security guards by her side," Pejovic said.

He and his family, who owns a village restaurant, have been leaving loaves of stale bread for the celebrity hippo.

Nikica has lived at the resort since she was three years old. Several years ago the Vienna Zoo sent a young male hippopotamus to Plavnica to be her companion. The attempt at match-making failed when Nikica killed her suitor.

Pejovic said the romance was ill-fated. "Nikica rejected him right from the start, but he persisted."

The Times Online warned Montenegrins to be careful. "Hippos tend to be grumpy, but also because they spin their tales like rotor blades when excreting. The idea is to mark out the maximum amount of territory -- plainly it does not do to stand too close."