Posted on 04/08/2025 7:21:59 AM PDT by DFG
At least 50 hippos and other large animals have been killed by anthrax poisoning in eastern Congo's Virunga National Park and have been spotted floating along a major river that feeds one of Africa's great lakes
Tests confirmed anthrax poisoning, said Virunga Park director Emmanuel De Merode, on Tuesday, adding that buffalo have been killed too.
The exact cause of the poisoning was not yet clear.
Images shared by the park show the hippopotamuses motionless on their sides and backs in the Ishasha River, or caught among foliage on the river's muddy banks.
The deaths represent a major loss for the park, which has been working to increase the number of hippos in recent decades after poaching and war reduced the population from over 20,000 to a few hundred by 2006.
The park now holds about 1,200 hippos.
Park guards noticed there was a problem when the dead animals started to appear about five days ago along the river, which forms Congo's border with Uganda and runs through an area under the control of rebel fighters.
Anthrax is a serious disease usually caused by bacteria found naturally in soil. Wild animals can become infected if they inhale anthrax spores in contaminated soil, plants, or water.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation warned residents to avoid wildlife in the area and to boil water from local sources before drinking.
De Merode said that a team was on site and that they were trying to get the hippos out of the water and bury them, but that it was difficult because they did not have excavators.
'It's difficult due to lack of access and logistics,' De Merode told Reuters.
'We have the means to limit the spread (of the disease) by...burying them with caustic soda.'
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
They refused Gyorgy Soros’ offer.
Leave the Colombian Hippos alone. They may be needed to re-populate the African hippos
Stay up wind of that area.
Saying they were poisoned indicates intent.
Anthrax can be found in the wild and spread without human intervention.
50 poisoned hippos - A new film by Quentin Tarentino
Clean them up with dynamite like they did in Oregon with the whale in 1970.
Were they Hungry Hungry Hippos?
I predict Africa will be the first continent to become extinct.
I read it as “dead poisoned hippies washed up” and I thought, “I love the Bee.”
Reminds me of the scene in Narcos Mexico. Where Felix meets with Pablo Escobar. He is scared that Pablo was going to feed him to his Hippos. After being relieved that was not Pablo’s intent he asks him why?
Pablo replies that his Hippos hate Mexicans too.
Jasmine Crockett needs a new gig...
That’s probably right, I hate to say.
Will boiling the water neutralize the anthrax?
Good. Now, get rid of the hundreds in the Amazon.
I’m sure we aren’t the only ones that thought of Jasmine immediately.
Why?
got that right. was hoping it was about the ubiquitous ghettopotami that infest so many places so big let down finding out it was the innocent who suffered. again.
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