Hippos In The News

I don't think about hippos often but when I do they're usually performing ballet in pink tutus. I'd always thought of them as cute and harmless.



Then I heard this terrifying story on CBC Radio:

"It was slimy and warm," recalls wildlife guide Paul Templer, who spent part of an afternoon inside of a hippopotamus. "It smelled like rotten eggs," What began as a routine safari ended when Templer was attacked and eaten by a large and notoriously ill-tempered male hippopotamus. "It was a really bad day at the office."
Now this:

A herd of hippopotamuses once owned by the late Colombian drug baron Pablo Escobar has been taking over the countryside near his former ranch. Nobody knows how many there are. The local environmental authority, which bears responsibility for them, estimates between 50 and 60, with most living in the lake at the park. But 12 are known to have paddled past the flimsy fence and into the nearby Magdalena River - and maybe many more.
No pink tutus on these guys! I'll never look at hippos the same way again.

Comments

  1. I heard that same story on CBC and share your feelings. I wonder why Disney and others ever felt that hippos should be cute and pink and wear tutus?

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