This is catastrophic.
Approximately 100 hippos have been tragically killed by a suspected outburst of Anthrax in a national park in Namibia. The disease is caused by a bacterium called Bacillus Anthracis, which lives in soil and commonly affects both wild and domestic animals, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
On October 1, the first victim was discovered by the officials of the park in Bwabwata. However, 109 more hippopotami were claimed to have been infected in less than two weeks as the contagion easily spread.
Namibia is home to 1300 hippos, according to government officials and due to the rapid dispersal of the outbreak, around 10% was lost.
“Over 100 hippos died in the past week. The cause of death is unknown but the signs so far show that it could be anthrax,” Namibian environment minister Pohamba Shifeta told AFP.
Unfortunately, the death toll could still rise because crocodiles and vultures have been eating the carcasses, as reported by The Guardian.
Apollinaris Kannyinga, the park’s deputy director, told The Namibian that this epidemic is frequent. He also added that “they are currently monitoring the situation, and that the dead hippos are yet to be disposed of.”
This is not the first time Africa experienced such disaster.
One such instance was when the same disease hit Uganda in 2009, killing 194 hippos and 14 buffaloes, said John Bosco Nuwe, the chief warden of Queen Elizabeth National Park during that time.
Photo credit: Stoyan Nenov/Reuters
