Female Hippopotamus Sarita died after she was attacked by her male companion Devidas at the Bondla zoo in Goa. Both the Hippopotamuses were mating for the past few days. Authorities claim Devidas may have attacked Sarita in a fit of rage after she refused his advances.
“They had been mating during the week, but on Tuesday, Sarita appears to have rejected his overtures and Devidas, who is almost double her weight pushed her as she started walking away out of the pool,” an official said in a ToI report.
Sarita was later buried in the zoo itself. Forest minister Rajendra Arlekar has sought a detailed report on the Hippos death. “It is a freak accident and post mortem has shown that Sarita had congestion in her chest. The impact of the fall must have been very hard and she sustained an internal haemorrhage,” a staffer said in a ToI report.
The hippopotamus couple were the first exotic animals brought to Bondla zoo. They were exchanged for Sloth bears from a Mysore zoo in 2013. Ever since their arrival, Devidas and Sarita were big crowd pullers . The zoo staff has expressed grief over the incident. Sarita was elder to Devidas.
