THE common hippo seems poised to join the elephant and rhino on Africa鈥檚 list of endangered large mammals. An upsurge in hippo poaching in central Africa, partly for its ivory teeth, is threatening an animal that used to be considered safe from extinction.
A collapse of law and order in many of the animal鈥檚 formerly safe havens means poachers can target the hippo, which is fast becoming a fashionable dish in upmarket central African restaurants. Ivory traders are also turning to hippo teeth, which can grow to more than 60 centimetres long, as a legal alternative to elephant tusks.
The crisis came into sharp focus last week with the revelation that the world鈥檚 biggest hippo population, in the swamps of the Virunga national park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, has fallen from 29,000 only 30 years ago to a mere 1300 today 鈥� a massive 95 per cent decline. Until now Congo was thought to have more hippos than anywhere except Zambia. But a decade of fighting since the crisis in nearby Rwanda has meant park rangers could not conduct a census until this summer.
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But other recent culls suggest that published estimates, which put the world population of hippos at around 160,000 ten years ago, may now be well wide of the mark, says Rebecca Lewison of the University of California at Davis, who chairs a committee of hippo scientists for the World Conservation Union (IUCN). 鈥淯nregulated hunting results in very rapid declines in population.鈥� For example, government soldiers in neighbouring Burundi have also been on an illicit hunting spree, killing 60 of an estimated 250 hippos in the country this year alone. The border town of Gutumba has now become a major market for hippo meat, which sells for about $2 a kilogram. That makes each hippo worth up to $3000.
鈥淗unting for meat is the primary threat, but ivory is an afterthought in some areas and is increasing,鈥� says Lewison. Ironically, the ban on ivory from elephants, which are three to four times more numerous, is encouraging poachers to hunt hippos instead. 鈥淓lephant conservation has overshadowed the growing crisis for common hippos,鈥� says Lewison.