SA beauty queen mauled by hippo
A South African beauty queen is being treated in hospital after being attacked by a hippo in Botswana.
Diana Tilden-Davis was bitten in the leg while on a canoeing holiday in the Okavango swamp and is said to be in a stable condition in Johannesburg.
The runner-up in the Miss World competition in 1991 was attacked last Thursday while paddling in her canoe. It is the second reported hippo attack in the last month in that swamp, which is the country's top tourist spot.
Her husband Chris Kruger told the SAPA news agency: "She was going down a very narrow channel, when she bumped into the hippo.
"Because it's a low flood period in the delta and because of the drought, all the browsers are stressed at the moment because there isn't enough to eat.
"He must have been very stressed because he attacked Di just above the ankle with his razor-sharp teeth going through her bone and skin."
Hippos can weigh as much as two tonnes and are among the most dangerous animals in Africa.
They tend to attack if they feel their territory is being invaded.
Earlier in December, Jannice Simpson, from Cape Town, was killed by a hippo while on honeymoon with her husband in the Okavongo swamp.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/3346735.stm
Published: 2003/12/24 15:39:32 GMT
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