In the News...
February 2005
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This month's stories:

Pygmy Hippo Named After Yachtswoman

An unexpected honor has been given to record breaking round-the-world British sailor Ellen MacArthur - a baby pygmy hippo named after her. The newly-honoured Dame Ellen, 28, sailed into recently when she broke the record for the fastest solo yacht circumnavigation of the globe, completed in 71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes and 33 seconds.  

Following this fete, the baby pygmy hippo at the Edinburgh Zoo in Scotland, born January 22nd was named Ellen. According to senior keeper Kathleen Standen, "Ellen loves the water, just like her namesake, and spends a lot of time paddling about in the pool." 

Sources: Yahoo news - 17 Feb 2005 and The Australian (online) - 18 Feb 2005
10-03-05

Moroccan Zoogoer Hurt by Hippo

A twenty-one year-old man was attacked and seriously wounded by a hippopotamus in the Temara zoo 20 km south of Rabat. 

The man, who declined to be named, wanted to a closer view of the hippo in order to take pictures and attempted going over the security fence. Unfortunately, the hippopotamus bit his hand pulling him inside the enclosure. The hippopotamus also bit the young man's face. 

Medical staff at a hospital decided for a surgery was necessary due to the seriousness of the wounds. Zoo personnel said after the incident, mishaps of the kind are very rare at the facility owing to enforced security measures and called on visitors to respect security rules.

Sources: Arabic News (online) - 12 February 2005
10-03-05

Hippo/Whale Fossil Discovery

Yet more data has emerged indicating an evolutionary link between hippos and the cetaceans such as whales and dolphins. Such suggested links are not new. DNA evidence has tied the two families of animals together before. However, new fossil research is helping to corroborate these theories. 

A team of paleontologists, led by Jean-Renaud Boisserie, of the University of California's Human Evolution Research Centre, at Berkeley, along with colleagues in France and Chad, have examined the bones and teeth of 10 living species of hippos, whales and pigs, and 22 of their fossil ancestors, and found evidence that the hippos' closest kin are indeed whales. The findings will appear in the 8 February issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. 

They argue that skull features quickly eliminated pigs and peccaries as the hippos' closest kin. Rather, the team then found striking similarities between hippos and the most hippo-like members of a very diverse animal group called anthracotheres. This extinct family also included pig-like and camel-like members, all of them gone for at least 2.5 million years. The links include constantly growing front teeth and a grooved upper palate exclusive to the two groups.

If their theory is correct, the hippos' closest anthracothere ancestors apparently evolved to exploit a riverine environment which hippos eventually shared with the first humans in Africa. Meanwhile, the other lineage, which led to modern whales, evolved to exploit the oceans.


Sources: Boston Globe (online) 1 Feb 2005 and Roylance, F.D. of the Independent Online 4 Feb 2005
10-03-05

Uganda Seeking US$144K to Fight Hippo Anthrax

The anthrax outbreak that killed at least 250 hippos between July and December 2004 and another 52 more since the beginning of 2005 continues to wreak havoc in southwestern Uganda. Junior Tourism Minister Jovino Ayumu Akaki appealed for 144,000 dollars (110,000 euros) to buy vaccines and clean Queen Elizabeth National Park to stop the spread of the disease.

"We need the money to contain the epidemic through the purchase of vaccines for animals living around the parks…to clear the lakes of the carcasses and to dispose of the dead hippos professionally, burying them in deep pits to avoid contamination," Akaki said. Monies would also be used to carry out education awareness projects for people living near the park. 

Uganda Wildlife Authority Chairman Arthur Mugisha said the spread of anthrax in the park is heightened by the current dry season, which has led to the scarcity of grass. "Hippos are heavy consumers and they graze near the ground. The possibility is that they are eating grass with the soil already contaminated by the bacterium," Mugisha explained.

Queen Elizabeth National Park is home to approximately half of Uganda's estimated 10,000 hippos.

Sources: AFP and Indpendent Online both 17 Feb 05
10-03-05

Two Hurt in Rush for Hippo Meat

At least two people were hurt in a mob scene after a small hippo on Thika Road in Kenya was hit by a car and officials attempted to distribute the meat in an orderly fashion. The hippo which is believed to have strayed from a nearby dam and was hit by a car around 6 AM. The occupants of the car were uninjured though the car was rolled on its side. As word spread of the dead hippo, a crowd armed with knives, machetes and even swords converged to gather meat from the animal.

"I have eaten hippo meat in the past and I know how sweet it is. Let us have the meat," a man said as he ran to the scene. 

Those injured were stabbed on the legs and hands as they struggled to get a piece of meat from the carcass. In the confusion, others exchanged blows and kicks after they disagreed on who would get what. One local was arrested in the melee.

The police and Kenya Wildlife Service wardens attempted to haul away the carcass but it was too heavy. They eventually selected 10 men to participate in the skinning of the hippo carcass after the crowd became hostile. Villagers were ordered to form a queue so the meat could be distributed but a stampede ensued. Only about half of the crowd was believed to have received any meat.

Sources: SAPA via Independent online (of South Africa) and the Herald (of South Africa online) 7 September 2005
9/10/05Sources: Kenya Broadcast Company (online) and the East African Standard (online) both 27 February 2005
10-03-05

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