JESSICA THE HIPPO

type size: [A] [A] [A]

This is the story of an extraordinary friendship between a man and his hippo. An animal that would normally be considered more dangerous than a lion wanders around the house, drinks coffee on the veranda, eats sweet potatoes, plays with puppies and gets massage treatments.

Just after birth, during the 2000 Mozambique floods a 12-kilogram (26-pound) baby hippo was washed up on a private lawn bordering the Blyde River in South Africa's Limpopo province. Tonie, a retired game warden, found her and named her "Jessica."

Tonie has raised many animals in his lifetime, but Jessica was his first hippopotamus, and she was soon to become a much bigger challenge. Bottle-feeding her, he managed to nurture her into what she is today: a nearly 1-ton, 7-year-old hippo.

Right from the beginning, this unique relationship has stirred the public imagination. Visitors come to Tonie's house to play and swim with Jessica, local news crews arrive to chart her progress. And in South Korea and Japan, Jessica is a national hero!

The 2000 Mozambique floods were a disaster from beginning to end. Rivers burst their banks, taking homes, livestock and property in their wake, with over 1 million people left homeless — stranded amongst the flood waters. In just three days, 75 percent of the annual rainfall came down.

At the height of the flood, a pregnant hippo cow in the Blyde River gave birth to her young in the water. Usually aunts stand downstream, to prevent the newborn from floating down the river. Yet, in this case, the torrent of water was too strong. Just minutes after birth, the baby was taken by the currents and washed downstream.

Luckily, fate had something else in store for this youngster and it was washed up on a private lawn bordering an off-shoot of the Blyde River. It was here that Tonie found her — a mere 12 kilos (26 pounds) with her umbilical chord still attached — and named her Jessica.

Having raised many animals during his time as game warden in Zambia, Tonie knew exactly what to do. Colostrum is the milk any newborn needs for the first 12 days of its life, and Tonie had perfected his mix over the years of raising orphaned lions, leopards, cheetahs and rhinos.

Jessica took to it well and managed to survive the first critical weeks. With the baby hippo sleeping in his bed, Tonie was able to feed her and attend to Jessica's every need.

Yet, no one takes a hippo in just like that — news crews from around the world arrived to film and photograph the event. Tonie still has articles and newspaper cuttings from when Jessica was small and about her rise to stardom abroad, particularly in South Korea and Japan.

Having worked for the South African Nature Conservation Service for 13 years, Tonie managed the unthinkable — he was given permission to keep the young hippo. In 2004, Tonie married a massage therapist named Shirley, who has embraced Tonie's chaotic family, which includes a daily life dominated by Jessica's presence. Now that Jessica is too big for the double bed, she has moved onto the terrace where, in between grazing, she sleeps among Tonie's dogs.

There is no strict daily routine, but certain crucial things must not be missed — such as the sweet warm coffee, which Tonie bottle-feeds her with every day, or the sweet potatoes, which she expects as treats.

Jessica requires constant attention and company, which means no holidays for Tonie and Shirley. Instead, there is a constant flow of people coming to visit Jessica to swim with her in the river, ride on her back and give her all the attention she craves.

For many who come there, it is the first time they have seen a hippo from such close quarters, not to mention touching and swimming with her.

The only time the river is out of bounds is when Jessica refuses to go swimming — a good indicator that the local crocs have moved in for the day.

Yet, Tonie will always remain her favorite. Jessica greets him with special grunts and flicking ears whenever he arrives, and follows him like a dog wherever he goes.

Ideally, at night she would like to come into the house, but now that Jessica is larger than a Jersey cow, the house is strictly out of bounds. For a while, her only chance of getting in was when Tonie and Shirley had gone out for the day and left the key in the door. Jessica perfected the art of unlocking doors with her mouth — when Tonie got home the dogs would be lying in front of the TV while Jessica snored happily in the double bed, which eventually took on a bit of a banana shape. Since then, Tonie has installed a security door to control when Jessica comes and goes.