Mushmouth
07-13-2017, 06:42 PM
At least 27 hippos have been slaughtered in a touristy zone in western Niger by villagers who blame them for destroying crops and harming livestock, local authorities said on Thursday.
The "massacre ...started in March and then assumed dramatic proportions" mainly in island settlements on the Niger river, the prefect of the Ayorou region, Jando Rhichi Algaher, told AFP.
Large numbers of hippos and several bird species have made Ayorou, about 200 kilometres (125 miles) from the capital Niamey, a popular place for tourists.
Patrols by troops "have helped slow the slaughter", Algaher said.
"The locals have killed a large number of hippopotamuses, although this species is protected," Environment Minister Almoustapha Garba said on state radio.
https://phys.org/news/2017-07-villagers-niger-massacre-hippos.html
The "massacre ...started in March and then assumed dramatic proportions" mainly in island settlements on the Niger river, the prefect of the Ayorou region, Jando Rhichi Algaher, told AFP.
Large numbers of hippos and several bird species have made Ayorou, about 200 kilometres (125 miles) from the capital Niamey, a popular place for tourists.
Patrols by troops "have helped slow the slaughter", Algaher said.
"The locals have killed a large number of hippopotamuses, although this species is protected," Environment Minister Almoustapha Garba said on state radio.
https://phys.org/news/2017-07-villagers-niger-massacre-hippos.html