Is there a hippo farm in your future? (June 13)
By Chuck Doud
The Madera Tribune
I met a fellow in Washington State years ago who operated a rescue ranch for hippopotami, most of which had been in circuses and zoos before they went to live with him. He would bring them to this ranch, feed them, make sure they were cared for, and then when they died he would dig a hole with a backhoe and bury them.
People thought this fellow was a great friend of animals — hippos, at any rate — until they found out that on occasion he would slaughter one of the animals and sell the meat to restaurants specializing in wild game. It was all very legal, but nevertheless people who had sometimes sent checks to help him feed hippos started sending him insults in the mail, not checks.
Not long after that, the hippo farm closed — or perhaps the hippo farmer died, I don’t know. But one thing I do know is that all the hippos he was taking care of died with nobody to take care of them.
And who would be dumb enough to start another hippo farm — at least in the United States, where people have a dim view of eating the water horses? Most of those same people, of course, would think nothing of eating hamburger and pork chops, believing that they materialize on the meat counter as if by magic.
But it wasn’t that long ago that cattle and hogs were wild animals. They didn’t start out as foodstuff for humans, but it turned out that way. Cattle are a way for people to eat grass and other forage. The same is true of sheep. People don’t actually eat the grass, but cattle and sheep do, then we can eat the animals. Pigs eat just about anything else, and we eat the pigs. It is a nice arrangement.
Hippos, by the way, eat prodigious amounts of grass and turn it into prodigious amounts of meat, which people in Africa happily eat. Maybe some day we will domesticate hippos, too.
