{"id":228274,"date":"2024-10-08T16:23:07","date_gmt":"2024-10-08T16:23:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/10\/08\/nigeria-town-celebrates-after-hunting-down-killer-hippo\/"},"modified":"2024-10-08T16:23:07","modified_gmt":"2024-10-08T16:23:07","slug":"nigeria-town-celebrates-after-hunting-down-killer-hippo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/10\/08\/nigeria-town-celebrates-after-hunting-down-killer-hippo\/","title":{"rendered":"Nigeria town celebrates after hunting down \u2018killer hippo\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"article-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.ghanaweb.com\/imagelib\/pics\/184\/18449016.295.jpg\" alt=\"People had been afraid to go out as the hippo was also wandering into paddy fields by the river\" title=\"People had been afraid to go out as the hippo was also wandering into paddy fields by the river\" width=\"295\" height=\"166\" \/> <span class=\"image_caption\"><span>People had been afraid to go out as the hippo was also wandering into paddy fields by the river<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"-webkit-user-select: none; -webkit-touch-callout: none; -moz-user-select: none; -ms-user-select: none; user-select: none;\">\n<p id=\"article-123\">Residents of a town in north-western Nigeria are celebrating after a rare but feared hippo &#8211; along with its calf &#8211; was killed by rice farmers and fishermen in a hunt lasting several weeks.<\/p>\n<p>People in Yauri, in Kebbi state, have been terrified of the hippo after she killed a fisherman who worked for the local traditional leader.<\/p>\n<p>It prompted the Kebbi state government to order that the animal be killed for the safety of the community living along the River Niger.<\/p>\n<p>Nigeria\u2019s hippo population has declined rapidly over the last few decades &#8211; estimates suggest there are now around 100 animals, which mainly live in conservation areas.<\/p>\n<p>The hippo in Yauri was tracked down by young men, who used locally made spears known as a \u201czagos\u201d to kill it.<\/p>\n<p>Its carcass has since been ferried in a canoe to the palace of one of the Emir of Yauri&#8217;s high-ranking administrators, where it has been butchered and its meat given to those in local community.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are a town of fishermen and farmers and this hippo has made many to stop going out due to fear of an attack,\u201d resident Sani Yauri told the BBC.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cApart from killing a member of the emir\u2019s staff, it also seriously injured another person &#8211; not also forgetting the damage it regularly does to our farmlands.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There are many paddy fields along the banks of the river near the town, where the hippo had sometimes been spotted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are happy it has been killed and people came out in jubilation &#8211; and also got their share of the meat,\u201d Mr Yauri said.<\/p>\n<p>Another resident, Isa Jamilu, said he was relieved that could now go to his farm, which he had abandoned weeks ago.<\/p>\n<p>Photos of the dead animal have been widely shared on social media &#8211; with mixed reactions: some hailed members of the local community for standing up for themselves while others expressed concern about the welfare of the animal.<\/p>\n<p>The common hippopotamus is on the red list of threatened species put together by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is an endangered species and I was sad when I saw the video clip of people celebrating after it was killed,\u201d Isyaku Abdullahi, animal rights activist and founder of Nigeria&#8217;s African Voice for Animals Initiative, told the BBC.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat the people of Yauri ought to have done was to report to relevant authorities who would capture and relocate it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said communities living in rural areas, especially places like Kebbi state where there are several rivers and lakes, needed to be made aware of other options when dealing with the dangerous mammals.<\/p>\n<p>Kebbi is renowned for hosting the annual Argungu Fishing Festival, which is on the United Nations&#8217; cultural heritage list.<\/p>\n<p>Hippos are the third-largest land mammal and their teeth can reach up to 50.8cm (20in) in length. Despite their size, they can also reach speeds of up to 20mph (32km\/h).<\/p>\n<p>While the animals are herbivores, they can become highly aggressive when they feel threatened or their habitats are disturbed &#8211; and kill around 500 people every year in Africa.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>People had been afraid to go out as the hippo was also wandering into paddy fields by the river Residents of a town in north-western Nigeria are celebrating after a rare but feared hippo &#8211; along with its calf &#8211; was killed by rice farmers and fishermen in a hunt lasting several weeks. People in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":228275,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-228274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-africa"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Nigeria town celebrates after hunting down \u2018killer hippo\u2019 - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/10\/08\/nigeria-town-celebrates-after-hunting-down-killer-hippo\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nigeria town celebrates after hunting down \u2018killer hippo\u2019 - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"People had been afraid to go out as the hippo was also wandering into paddy fields by the river Residents of a town in north-western Nigeria are celebrating after a rare but feared hippo &#8211; along with its calf &#8211; was killed by rice farmers and fishermen in a hunt lasting several weeks. 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