Hippo which attacked British man during Zambia safari had killed man

A hippo which threw a father around 'like a rag doll' killed a fisherman two weeks earlier.

Roland Cherry and his wife Shirley were on a river safari in Zambia when the animal rammed their canoe.

Mr Cherry, was tossed into the air and crashed into the water with a dislocated shoulder.

Shirley managed to swim to the riverbank while her injured husband, 63, was stranded in the water at the mercy of the 1.4 tonne monster.

Moments later Roland was dragged to the bottom of the river by the enormous beast.

He managed to scramble to shallow water but was grabbed again by the hippo which tossed him into the air for a second time.

He scrambled to safety and was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was treated for his injuries.

The couple were attacked by a female hippo which turned aggressive while it protected its young calf which was nearby.

It has now emerged the same hippo attacked a fishing boat which left one man dead and another injured two weeks before Roland was mauled on June 25.

Roland, who is recovering at home in Tysoe, Warks., said: 'There was a briefing where they said in the unlikely event that we are attacked by a hippo they'll attack the biggest object, which is the canoe.

'But there was an attack by the same hippo just two weeks before.

'This hippo had attacked locals in a fishing boat.

'One of them was badly wounded while his colleague was flung out and eaten by a crocodile. But we weren't told about that.

'We've done a lot of kayaking in England and Wales, but we were never aware of the mortal danger we were in.

'We thought the guides would keep us safe. Had we known we wouldn't have set foot in the canoe.'

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Roland is raising £20,000 for Mtendere Mission Hospital which treated him and says he has no plans to take legal action against the tour operators.

He said: 'The legal route is not one which we intend to go down. For me, life is too short.

'What I really want to do now is to give something back to the hospital which treated me.

'We are trying to raised £20,000 and we have already raised more than £16,000 which is just incredible.

'I am determined that something positive comes out of what was a challenging incident.'

After being treated at the hospital in Chirundu, Roland was flown 900 miles a hospital in Johannesburg in South Africa.

He spent two weeks being treated for his injuries before flying back to the UK.

Roland still has deep scarring from the 10in (25cm) bite to his stomach as well as injuries to his thigh and shoulder.

Despite his ordeal, Roland says people should not be put off touring Africa.

He joked: 'I don't want anyone to be put off by Africa, because it is a wonderful place, but go in a bigger boat.'

Figures show up to 3,000 people are killed by hippos every year.