A two-tonne hippo named Nikica who escaped her pen during floods in Montenegro has returned home to a private zoo after tasting 10 days of freedom, the zoo owner said.
“Nikica returned to her home last night and she is now resting in her pen,” Dragan Pejovic, the owner of the zoo in Plavnica told AFP.
Nikica escaped from her enclosure when it was flooded during heavy rains in Montenegro two weeks ago. She trotted off to nearby homes putting the wind up some villagers but the zoo’s owner said she was extremely tame.
After returning home, the two-tonne beast came out of her pen and patiently posed for a throng of photographers.
“She has tried to get back to her pen in the past days, but she could not as everything was still flooded so she was wandering around neighboring farms,” Pejovic said.
During her escape Nikica often came back to sleep near a pool at the zoo complex while zookeepers fed her and covered her with hay to protect her from cold.
The 11-year-old animal has been living in the zoo for nine years and became a mascot of the nearby tourist complex in Plavnica.
Hippos are natives to Africa and considered the third-largest land animals.
They can be extremely dangerous due to their body mass and mature individuals can weigh more than three tonnes.
(afp)
蒙特內哥羅共和國一家私人動物園的所有人表示，園內兩公噸重的河馬「妮琪卡」藉著大水逃出圍欄，在品嚐過十天自由的滋味後，已自行返回動物園。
普拉夫尼卡村這家動物園的所有人卓甘．佩卓維耶對法新社表示：「妮琪卡昨晚自行返回住處，現在正在畜欄裡休息。」
兩週前蒙特內哥羅因大雨而淹大水，妮琪卡趁機逃出圈地。她跑到鄰近的住家，嚇壞部份村民，但動物園主人說她其實非常溫馴。
這隻兩公噸重的動物返家後，走出畜欄耐心地供攝影記者們拍照。
佩卓維耶說：「過去幾天來她一直想要回到畜欄，但因為到處都還在淹大水，所以只好在鄰近農場四處閒晃。」
妮琪卡落跑期間，經常回到園區的一座水池邊睡覺，而動物管理員會餵她，並用乾草為她遮蔽禦寒。
這隻十一歲的河馬在這家動物園住了九年，已經成為該村鄰近觀光渡假區的吉祥物了。
河馬原生於非洲，被認為是陸地上體型第三大的動物。
因為體重的關係，牠們是極為危險的動物，一隻成年河馬的體重可能重逾三公噸。
（法新社╱翻譯：袁星塵）
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