Runaway Houdini might have fathered offspring

THERE is a new little Houdini in town but this time the offspring of South Africa's most famous hippo will have 6000ha of game reserve to curb his wanderlust.

In 2004 Houdini became the provinces's most wanted hippo after escaping from the Rondevlei nature reserve in Cape Town. He was on the run for almost 10 months after thieves broke through a fence. And after 10 months of adventures, he was finally captured on December 9 2004 after an epic four- hour chase and relocated to Pumba.

It took six tranquilliser darts to eventually bring him down. His story was later captured in a children's book.

Pumba game reserve spokeswoman Lesley Miles said the first sighting of the baby hippo, in all probability fathered by Houdini, was on September 16. The pictures were captured by visiting Dutch photographer Juriaan Teulings.