Flood Related - Hippo's from Calgary Zoo

A

archerynut

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I'm sure many are aware that during the flood our zoo which is positioned right on the banks of the river, was seriously flooded, leading to a near escape of two very large hippo's, both males but one younger male which is known to be rather ill tempered and VERY territorial. my sister has volunteered at the zoo a number of times, and converses on a daily basis with some of the management. she was shown a picture of the hippo enclosure. in this picture was one man in the hippo pool with a dry suit on. in the picture it also does not show the two hippo's submerged in roughly 10 feet of water. the zoo employee in the water was being covered overhead by five or six zoo employees with rifles. not tranquilizers but honest to god firearms. I guess what I am wondering is...does the Calgary Zoo stock a small number of lethal firearms under lock and key for a situation like this? or were they borrowed from I'm not sure who really. I do not think the police "lend" guns. the gunnut in me is also wondering what make and model as well as calibre. how small in calibre would one want to go if they had to take out a hippo?
 
In the water a hippo is no trick. A well placed 30-06, 300 WM or up into the brain (usually that's the only target on an aquatic hippo) is all it takes. Now, if you want to pick a fight on dry land you're an idiot with a death wish if you use less than a 416 Rigby/Remington/Riger/Taylor (sorry Ardent, but your H&H is a bad choice).

I don't imagine that the zoo has any firearms under lock and key nor do I think there is anyone there that is competent to deal with a hippo or elephant that gets homicidal (or any other animal with a genetic PhD in homicide). The police do not lend firearms nor do they have anything capable of dealing with ultra-heavy game (I'm sure there's a 50 hidden somewhere at CPS headquarters but not available on short notice). The pessimist in me wonders if perhaps the zoohands in question were planning on shooting their compatriot (who obviously drew the short straw) if the hippo-dip went horribly awry.

Zoo/Circus escape is a dirty little fantasy of guys like myself (and probably a few others I could name) who fancy heavy fighting rifles and up close work. Hence why I own a 416, 458 and 470. Hippos in downtown Calgary? Where do I sign up?
 
I wonder if the zookeepers were given copies of Kevin Robertson's Perfect Shot so they'd know WHERE to shoot a hippo.

I recall years ago a video of a circus elephant running amok, I believe in Hawaii, and the cops putting dozens, if not hundreds of rounds into it to put it down. All I could think, was poor elephant. The right rifle with the right bullet in the right hands, and it would have been a one-shot deal.
 
Man you couldn't pay me enough to be dry-suit hippo guy. I get nervous enough walking through our Customer Service Department when it's treat day. If I have some icing sugar on my shirt or something, there's no way I can outrun the herd.

Cannon
 
Can't speak for the Calgary Zoo but a good friend of mine was the head vet for a large US amusement park chain that was made famous by a mouse.
They had people and guns on hand to take care of any dangerous animal situation they could come up with. Most of the time they were regular staff who hunted or took extra training for the situations.
He said they took it quite seriously as far as training goes.
 
image.jpg


http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Calgary+hippo+almost+escaped+during+flood/8578606/story.html (video inside)
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/..._life_to_stop_hippo_that_almost_got_away.html (video inside)
 
Ok, ok - so people are donning dry suits and getting in the water with ill-tempered, territorial, male hippos?!

So does anyone else see anything inheritly wrong with this scenario? Considering most water / animal related attacks occur due to mistaken identity - is this wise?

I wouldn't want to be the one in the dry suit if/when one of these male hippos take a shine to the new 'hippo in the tight trowsers'!! Or, for all we know, a dry suit might be the 'hippo version' of a snausage ....

Yep - I gotta pair, but they're not THAT big - the hippos are on their own.
 
Actually BUM, given that position anywhere between the eye and ear will work as long as you don't get back of the ear hole. That was exactly the sight picture my first one, but at 120 yds, the 270 TSX was instantaneous.......then wait 6 hrs for the bugger to float up. 2nd one was hard quartering away and he caught one right in the ear hole from the back...............DEAD !!! Lots of thrashing about then wait 6 hrs for him to float up as well. Not advised to enter water and look for him with 20 other hippos about. I find it odd they would have 2 mature bulls in the same enclosure, unless it's for the crowds, they would be constantly in a state of agitation, posturing and growling and having territorial battles. Wonder where the cows are, or don't they have any?
 
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