World-famous hippo Jessica is a big rooibos tea fan

Have you ever wondered what celebrity hippo Jessica enjoys besides making films and documentaries and appearing on global television sets?

She enjoys not just a few cups but 20 litres of rooibos tea daily. 

Jessica’s enjoyment of rooibos tea was love at first sip, said honorary game ranger Tonie Joubert and his wife Shirley.

The couple rescued Jessica as an infant, with the umbilical cord still attached to her, in 2000 after she was swept away during floods that affected parts of Mozambique and SA. 

As an infant, she enjoyed homemade formula but immediately gravitated towards rooibos when her adoptive parents introduced her to it.

“She needed milk urgently, but being so small we couldn’t feed her cow’s milk. I quickly prepared a formula which consisted of egg yolk, cream and full cream cow’s milk to create a substitute for colostrum. To our surprise, she took to the teat of the bottle greedily, and could hardly get enough of my formula,” said Shirley.

Jessica prefers her tea warm with brown sugar. 

“To this day she’ll only drink rooibos and prefers to take it warm with a bit of brown sugar. She has it for breakfast, lunch and supper and always nudges us for it just before bedtime. It helps her to fall peacefully asleep on the verandah with our five English bull terriers, who are her best mates,” Shirley said.

At 1,400kg she also enjoys sweet potatoes, carrots and apples.

Tonie described Jessica as “kind and gentle”. 

“She is a dear friend and is very protective over us. While hippos are known to be aggressive, Jessica is gentle and kind,” he said.

“In 2012 we adopted another hippo, named Richie, who is exactly like Jessica. They both love rooibos, watching television and listening to music with us. We must be the only people on earth living with hippos.”

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