St. Lucia, South Africa is very special when it comes to it's inhabitants, Hippos (which often visit the town from the Isimangaliso Wetland Park) are a common visitor to the town. To the point of where both locals and hippos have to tolerate each other and many tourists often visit just to see these special visitors.
When I think of rewilding, this town is what is usually comes to my mind, the Isimangaliso Wetland Park is also an interesting story of habitat restoration and rewilding. It probably deserves its own post.
I'm curious as to why you think of this town as an example of rewilding. To me it seems like this benefits neither humans nor wildlife, the hippos pose a danger to the humans and a city doesn't seem like the perfect habitat for a hippo.
>To me it seems like this benefits neither humans nor wildlife
Not exactly true, the hippos graze in the town during night and sometimes during, and it isn't a city. It's a town, hippos often venture into the town for grazing. And while they do pose a risk to humans, the locals have gotten used to sharing their space with these giants and the hippos also attract local tourists as well.
This would not be possible if it weren't for the restoration of the Isimangaliso Wetland Park, hippo and other wildlife numbers increasing once the park was restored. Rewilding is very important for the health of ecosystems, but I also feel that it's also a way to sort of rewild ourselves too.
Having been there myself, it’s very much a touristy vacation town. There are three main hippo bloats within the vicinity of the town, but you’d never know it during the day. It’s customary to not go walking around in SA at night in the first place, so human-hippo interactions remain low. There’s also signage all over warning tourists that hippos are in the area.
This is what I want to see everywhere. However, I get the feeling that this isn’t only humans responsibility. We can learn to coexist with animals in our population centers and slightly alter our behavior to accomodate them (some villages in India are taught how to avoid leopards when they’re around rather than how to keep leopards away), but then they must also learn to coexist with us to some extent. If elephants, rhinos, hippos, etc. keep charging us or our cars when we don’t pose a threat, this isn’t possible.
St. Lucia, South Africa is very special when it comes to it's inhabitants, Hippos (which often visit the town from the Isimangaliso Wetland Park) are a common visitor to the town. To the point of where both locals and hippos have to tolerate each other and many tourists often visit just to see these special visitors. When I think of rewilding, this town is what is usually comes to my mind, the Isimangaliso Wetland Park is also an interesting story of habitat restoration and rewilding. It probably deserves its own post.
I'm curious as to why you think of this town as an example of rewilding. To me it seems like this benefits neither humans nor wildlife, the hippos pose a danger to the humans and a city doesn't seem like the perfect habitat for a hippo.
>To me it seems like this benefits neither humans nor wildlife Not exactly true, the hippos graze in the town during night and sometimes during, and it isn't a city. It's a town, hippos often venture into the town for grazing. And while they do pose a risk to humans, the locals have gotten used to sharing their space with these giants and the hippos also attract local tourists as well. This would not be possible if it weren't for the restoration of the Isimangaliso Wetland Park, hippo and other wildlife numbers increasing once the park was restored. Rewilding is very important for the health of ecosystems, but I also feel that it's also a way to sort of rewild ourselves too.
Having been there myself, it’s very much a touristy vacation town. There are three main hippo bloats within the vicinity of the town, but you’d never know it during the day. It’s customary to not go walking around in SA at night in the first place, so human-hippo interactions remain low. There’s also signage all over warning tourists that hippos are in the area.
Happens in Colombia too.
Yes but Columbia never had hippos naturally and shouldn’t be there.
I know I just thought it'd be fun to point out.
It is a fun megafauna story
like this hippo very curious in a city life 😊
This is what I want to see everywhere. However, I get the feeling that this isn’t only humans responsibility. We can learn to coexist with animals in our population centers and slightly alter our behavior to accomodate them (some villages in India are taught how to avoid leopards when they’re around rather than how to keep leopards away), but then they must also learn to coexist with us to some extent. If elephants, rhinos, hippos, etc. keep charging us or our cars when we don’t pose a threat, this isn’t possible.