Marius Els Wiki – Marius Els Biography
Marius Els was a South African man, who was bitten and killed by a pet hippo he called “Humphrey” and treated like a son.
Photos show the close contact between Marius and the hippo; in some, he even rides on the hippo’s back as if it’s a horse. Els previously said of the hippo that the animal was “like a son to me,” according to Fox News.
He was a farmer in the Free State province of South Africa. Els was found dead in a river, having been bitten by the animal repeatedly, Fox reported. He was 40 years old. However, although a spate of news articles reported the man’s death as if it just happened in December 2020, Els actually died in 2011, according to an article on his death in The Guardian. That story announced, “Humphrey the pet hippo kills owner in South Africa.” Thus, the story is true, but it’s old.
Age
He was 40 years old.
Marius Els Killed By A Hippo
Els named the hippo Humphrey after adopting the beast when it was still a calf. It grew to be 2,000 pounds in size. According to Fox News, he said in previous interviews that he did everything from play with the hippo to brushing its teeth. He also claimed the beast responded to his calls, Fox reported.
Els felt he could trust the animal implicitly, although it turns out he was very wrong.
“It’s a little bit dangerous, but I trust him with my heart that he will not harm anybody,” Els said, according to Daily Mirror. “I can swim with him.”
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Daily Mirror quoted an ambulance service spokesman Jeffrey Wicks as saying of Els’ final moments: “Paramedics responded to the scene to find that the man had been bitten several times by the animal.” It was unclear how long Els had been “immersed” in the river.
Els Relationship With the Beast
According to Daily Mirror, Els claimed that people just didn’t understand his relationship with Humphrey.
“There’s a relationship between me and Humphrey and that’s what some people don’t understand,” he said, according to that publication.
“They think you can only have a relationship with dogs, cats, and domestic animals.” He added: “I go in the water. He allows me to get on his back, and I ride him like a horse. He swims with me.”
