SOUTH Africa's celebrity hippo, Jessica, became an unlikely heroine of this week's devastating floods when she helped guide her adoptive parents to safety.
As Tony Joubert frantically tried to get his wife, Shirley, to dry land by pushing her in a rowing boat after their house on the Blyde River became submerged by the rising waters, the domesticated hippo kept pushing him from behind with her snout.
"I was pushing the boat upstream, against the strong current, and I could have fallen had she not guided me.
"Her snout was against my leg, urging me on," Tony said.
He said the hippo remained behind him all the time, giving him a welcome sense of security.
His house, which is on the banks of the river in Hoedspruit, Limpopo, was completely under water.
The damage to his property is estimated to be about R300000.
The Jouberts hurriedly left their house to seek refuge in their car, which was parked on higher ground.
But, as night fell, they decided to sleep in a tree house on their property after the floodwaters reached the car.
As he drove towards the tree house, Jessica followed the car, never letting them out of her sight.
"She remained under the tree house the whole night while we were in an upstairs room.
"She's really amazing," said Tony.
While other panic-stricken families living along the Blyde River evacuated their homes during the height of the flood, the Jouberts remained behind because they did not want to leave Jessica alone.
Said Shirley Joubert: "We feel so safe with her, the bond between the three of us has grown even stronger."
The Jouberts have raised Jessica since she was found on the river bank almost 12 years ago.
She has frolicked in the Blyde River with comedian Leon Schuster during the filming of his hit movie, Mr Bones, and has also appeared on Korean, Japanese and German television.
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