HIPPO HYPE That ponderous pile of moving, gray leather, the hippopotamus, has been getting a bad press of late. The commonly shared shred of a twisted snippet in print of late, has, all of a sudden, bounced off at once by longer radio and TV versions: it seems to have been found that the hippo is the world's greatest killer of mankind.
It's not quite true. It appears to have started with a factual article in the "National Geographic" publications area where it was clearly stated that "in Africa"- mind that locale designation -"the elephants, rhinos, buffaloes and hippos, all widely viewed as rather gentle, well-mannered vegetarians - kill more people than better know man eaters." A quotation of that nature, repeated with no end in sight, gives way too much alteration as it is printed and re-printed, and even more so when it is said and re-said radio and TV.
So we had a sudden thought thrust upon us which said the hippo was a major offender. Logic tells, us that the meat eaters - lions among them, who kill to eat and stay alive, would be,far and away, more aggresÂsive predators. They are the various cats which sustain the genre of jungle movies. The hippo, as with the rhino, is said to have exceedingly poor eyesight and that, together with it's rather ungainly posture and stumbling gait, it could well be that they, in defending themselves against poorly seen antagonists, might have leaned rather heavily on fragile offenders and mashed them into oblivion. There's more than one way to kill a a marauding biped.
As I looked back through the storm of recent references to the hippo as a major killer of Man, I found the current story seemed to have started from such a serious article. I think much depended on what stock photos are available at the moment and how to spell hippopotamus as opposed to rhino because because, to me, the rhino appears to be more vicious with that big horn at the ready in Wal-Mart size and style -"always".
I'm not planning to have any business with either one of them anytime soon, but, in case you come across upon that wayward story - take up for the maligned hippo. Goodness knowns the hippo has enough natural features to over-qualify for major make-over job from some generous zoo tycoon. Life is nothing but reality for any acknowledged veggies in this fast-food, carnivorous world of ours.
A.L.M. March 10, 2005 [c427wds]
