While tourists take excursions to see them on the lake, these semi-aquatic mammals wander into town every night

St Lucia is a beachside town about a 2.5-hour' drive from KwaZulu-Natal's King Shaka International Airport. It is popular with holidaymakers, and popular activities include fishing, birdwatching, game drives, and swimming off the immaculate beaches in Cape Vidal Nature Reserve. One of the main attractions in the town is the hippos.

Lake St Lucia, South Africa's largest estuarine lake, is home to about a thousand hippopotamuses (hippos). The large semi-aquatic mammals spend most days submerged in the shallows of the estuary.

Mackenzie Street, St Lucia's 500m long main road, is saturated with hippo-related signage. Some signs advertise daily hippo viewing boat cruises. Others warn visitors of the dangers of hippos. Those closest to the town leave the estuary at night to graze on grass in and around the town.

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Hippos are especially unpredictable when they have babies with them, as they may charge to protect the young. In 2022, a woman was trampled and left in critical condition after encountering a hippo and its baby while walking to her accommodation.

Despite the amount of interaction between humans and hippos in St Lucia, few serious incidents have been reported. The hippos take fairly predictable routes when they wander into town. Private security patrollers monitor them from their vehicles, keeping a safe distance. People who watch from hotels or restaurants are able to get an even closer view of the animals than they do from the cruises, much to their delight.