Authorities will try to catch the hippo by luring it into an enclosure with lucerne.
City council biodiversity head Julia Wood told the Cape Times it was apparent the hippo was not going to leave Zeekoevlei on the Cape Flats of its own accord, and return to Rondevlei.
"It looks as if he is a dispersing male, so we're going to have to capture him. We hope we can do it with a boma. He can't keep on running around close to the suburbs," she said.
The boma technique would involve trying to entice the hippo into an enclosure with lucerne or other attractive nibbles, and closing it once he was inside.
However, hippo capture was a tricky business, as proved by a previous runaway hippo, Houdini, in 2004.
According to the report, Rondevlei runaway Houdini was eventually captured in December 2004 and sent to an Eastern Cape game reserve.
Gondwana Game Reserve along the Garden Route had offered to take the latest runaway under its wing. – Sapa