• Jessica is a hippo that loves rooibos tea.
• Jessica lives with her adoptive parents on the banks of the Blyde River.
• They found her as a calf after some heavy flooding in the area.

Jessica is a hip hippo that has a penchant for rooibos tea.

It is her favourite snack and she eagerly gulps down about 20 litres of it a day. On very hot days, she prefers her rooibos with honey and a dash of lemon. Jessica lives on a 6ha reserve – aptly named Jessica’s Place – on the banks of the Blyde River, near Hoedspruit.

She was very weak – weighed only 16kg and stood 30cm tall at the shoulder. Even the local vet didn’t think she would survive. She looked more like an ET (extra terrestrial) than a hippo, Shirley recalls.

“Jessica’s chances of survival in the wild were very slim, and we realized that it would be far more merciful to see the journey through, than to just let nature take its course, and so she became part of our family,” says Shirley.

When it was time to wean Jessica, the Jouberts experimented with various teas, but the only one she took to was rooibos.

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 Tonie and Shirley for it just before bedtime. It helps her to fall asleep peacefully on the veranda along with the couple’s dogs.

Over the years, Jessica has become something of an international “star”. She featured in numerous documentaries, including those on the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and the BBC – and even on the Oprah Winfrey Show. Each year, thousands of tourists flock to the reserve to see her.

Last but not least, there is her personal life.

“Yes, there was a male hippo who wanted to be her boyfriend a few years ago and he would come to court her here on the veranda. Jessica, however, showed no interest in a romantic type of love affair and wanted to be just friends. They like to swim and graze together,” says Shirley.