1996 Zambezi River hippopotamus attack
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The 1996 Zambezi River hippopotamus attack was an incident on the Zambezi River, Zimbabwe, near Victoria Falls on 9 March 1996 where a hippopotamus attacked two river tour guides killing one and injuring the other. The surviving tour guide is British-born[1] Zimbabwean Paul Templer (born c. 1969) who lost an arm in the attack.[2][3] The tour guide who died by drowning was named Evans Namasango (born c. 1971[4]) and was an apprentice guide to Templer.[3][5]
The attack began when a bull hippopotamus flipped Namasango's kayak with two passengers inside, and Templer rowed over to assist when he was attacked directly by another hippopotamus.[3] The hippopotamus attempted to swallow Templer, but was unable to due to his size.[3] The hippopotamus released him, but it returned to attack him again, gravely injuring Templer.[3] It released Templer again, and another apprentice guide – Mike – rescued him and provided first aid. A different guide also attempted to find Namasango, but since it was nighttime he was not found until two days later about 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) away from where the hippopotamus flipped his kayak.[1][3] Namasango reportedly defended French and German tourists using his oar before going missing.[6][7] Tourists in Namasango's kayak swam through crocodile-infested water before being rescued.[8]
It took approximately eight hours to get Templer to a hospital that could treat his serious injuries.[3] He was transported to a hospital near Bulawayo.[9] His left arm had a degloving injury from the elbow down, his lung was punctured, and his Achilles tendon was torn out. He had a total of 38 serious bite injuries. Templer's left arm was amputated by hospital staff because of its injuries.[3]
Templer has recounted the attack in detail to various news organizations,[2][3][5][10][11][12][9][13] and he wrote about the experience in his partial autobiography, What's Left of Me: How I Lost a Fight with a Rogue Hippo and Won My Life.[14]
References
- ^ a b "Divers recover body of hippo attack victim". Deutsche Presse-Agentur. 1996-03-11.
- ^ a b "'I survived being swallowed by a hippo'". BBC News. Retrieved 2022-12-28.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "'I was swallowed by a hippo and ripped apart'". 7NEWS. 2022-02-05. Retrieved 2022-12-28.
- ^ Tyson, Remer (1996-05-25). "RAVAGED IN JAWS OF A HIPPO, HE RECALLS STRUGGLE FOR HIS LIFE". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
- ^ a b Kitching, Chris (2019-10-19). "'I was swallowed by an angry hippo and ripped apart but miraculously survived'". The Mirror. Retrieved 2022-12-28.
- ^ "Angry hippo kills tour guide". The Daily Telegraph. 1996-03-12.
- ^ "Hippo Attacks Canoe Safari". Associated Press. 1996-03-10.
- ^ "Guide killed by hippo, tourists survive". Agence France Presse. 1996-03-11.
- ^ a b Lytton, Charlotte (2016-07-01). "How to survive a hippo attack: 'I was lodged headfirst in the hippo's mouth, my legs hanging out'". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2022-12-28.
- ^ Templer, Paul (2013-05-04). "Experience: I was swallowed by a hippo". the Guardian. Retrieved 2022-12-28.
- ^ Reid, Claire (2019-11-17). "Man Survives Being Swallowed By A Hippo Three Times". LADbible. Retrieved 2022-12-28.
- ^ "Paul Templer was swallowed by an angry hippopotamus". CBC. 2014-06-23. Retrieved 2022-12-28.
- ^ Zimbabwe Standard (Harare) (1998-04-19). "Paul Templar - tragedy turns to Good works". Africa News.
- ^ "What's Left of Me". Paul Templer. Retrieved 2022-12-28.