Runaway Hippo Killed by Car
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Runaway hippo killed by car
YEMASSEE: Animal died after nighttime crash on River Road.
By Stephanie Ingersoll
Carolina Morning News
A pygmy hippopotamus died this week after being struck by a car on River Road in northern Beaufort County.
Sharon Anderson, 28, of Dale was driving north on River Road Monday night when she struck a large animal she first thought was a rhinoceros, according to a Beaufort County Sheriff's Office report.
Of course, it wasn't.
It was a small hippo that had wandered away from Auldbrass Plantation.
"She ran in front of the car," said Anderson, who was on her way to visit her sister with her boyfriend and two children in the 1985 Delta Oldsmobile. "I didn't know what it was."
Anderson stopped her car but didn't see the hippo. She called the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office and a deputy found the animal dead.
Usually found in West African nations of Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and the Ivory Coast, pygmy hippos are half the size of other hippopotamuses. They usually weigh in at about 400 to 500 pounds, are about 3 feet tall and live on both water and land.
They are so shy they were not discovered by Westerners until the 20th century, according to the San Francisco Zoo.
The Yemassee hippo was one of several wild animals kept at Auldbrass - a 40-acre plantation built by Frank Lloyd Wright.
The plantation includes an aviary with exotic birds, zebras and cattle. The hippo lived in a pond.
Anderson said people look at her as if she's crazy when she tells them what happened.
"They say stop lying, there no hippos around here," she said.
Her insurance agent was one of the skeptics.
"They didn't believe me at first," she said. "I took them the police report and they still didn't believe."
She said the plantation's owner, movie producer Joel Silver, told her he'd owned the female hippo for eight years and didn't know how she'd wandered away.
Beaufort County Sheriff's Office Spokeswoman Debbie Szpanka said dogs and deer are often struck by cars but this is the first time she's ever heard of a crash involving a hippo of any kind in Beaufort County.
Anderson and her family were not seriously injured and her car had only minor damage.
Reporter Stephanie Ingersoll can be reached at 837-5255, ext. 110, or Stephanie@lowcountrynow.com
Runaway hippo killed by car
YEMASSEE: Animal died after nighttime crash on River Road.
By Stephanie Ingersoll
Carolina Morning News
A pygmy hippopotamus died this week after being struck by a car on River Road in northern Beaufort County.
Sharon Anderson, 28, of Dale was driving north on River Road Monday night when she struck a large animal she first thought was a rhinoceros, according to a Beaufort County Sheriff's Office report.
Of course, it wasn't.
It was a small hippo that had wandered away from Auldbrass Plantation.
"She ran in front of the car," said Anderson, who was on her way to visit her sister with her boyfriend and two children in the 1985 Delta Oldsmobile. "I didn't know what it was."
Anderson stopped her car but didn't see the hippo. She called the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office and a deputy found the animal dead.
Usually found in West African nations of Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and the Ivory Coast, pygmy hippos are half the size of other hippopotamuses. They usually weigh in at about 400 to 500 pounds, are about 3 feet tall and live on both water and land.
They are so shy they were not discovered by Westerners until the 20th century, according to the San Francisco Zoo.
The Yemassee hippo was one of several wild animals kept at Auldbrass - a 40-acre plantation built by Frank Lloyd Wright.
The plantation includes an aviary with exotic birds, zebras and cattle. The hippo lived in a pond.
Anderson said people look at her as if she's crazy when she tells them what happened.
"They say stop lying, there no hippos around here," she said.
Her insurance agent was one of the skeptics.
"They didn't believe me at first," she said. "I took them the police report and they still didn't believe."
She said the plantation's owner, movie producer Joel Silver, told her he'd owned the female hippo for eight years and didn't know how she'd wandered away.
Beaufort County Sheriff's Office Spokeswoman Debbie Szpanka said dogs and deer are often struck by cars but this is the first time she's ever heard of a crash involving a hippo of any kind in Beaufort County.
Anderson and her family were not seriously injured and her car had only minor damage.
Reporter Stephanie Ingersoll can be reached at 837-5255, ext. 110, or Stephanie@lowcountrynow.com
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