Security guard attacked by hippo in South Africa

© AFP

Hippo in water.

A security guard at a KwaZulu-Natal game reserve cannot believe that he is still alive after he was attacked by a hippo while on patrol.

Bongani Makhanya said that he had been patrolling near the Paperbark Lodge at the Tala private game reserve just before his shift ended on Thursday morning, when the startled animal attacked him.

"I did not know that there was a hippo sleeping behind a tree when I walked by. My footsteps obviously disturbed the animal. It came straight at me and was after my head but I blocked it with my arm, so it bit that instead," Makhanya said in a TimesLive report.

He said that his screams of pain scared the animal away.

Makhanya said that he ran back to his transport to get help.

Paramedics said that they found Makhanya with a badly crushed right arm, but managed to stabilise him before taking him to hospital. He underwent surgery on his arm on the same day.

"I am so lucky to be alive. Hippos leave nothing behind when they attack. I still cannot believe that I am alive," he said in the report.

Makhanya said that it was the first attack on the reserve, that he knew of, in his 25 years of working there. He though did not blame the animal for the attack, adding that he was looking forward to going back to work as soon as possible.

"I love my job too much. And I love animals. It was not the hippo's fault," he said from his Pietermaritzburg hospital bed.