Hotel Liable for Hippo Killing a Guest - $317,000 USD

[johnnyblues]

It's tragic that she is dead, but she is dead for being stupid with no common sense what's so ever. All these bunny huggers think wild animals are friendly, and when they get hurt, the animal gets the blame and ends up being killed. Here is your sign! You can't fix stupid!

So right brother.. Good to see ya. Seems like you haven't been on in a while.

 

[flat8]

This is shocking. Most hippo are lovable creatures. Haven't you seen Madagascar?

 

[Hogpatrol]

Returning from my deer stand one mid morning, I had to walk close to a barnyard that had a bull in it. The only thing that separated us was one strand of electrified wire. I had a grunt call hanging around my neck and subconsciously yearning for a shot at the Darwins, I gave it a couple huffs and WHOA!! That was all it took. He charged and I hauled ass. Fortunately I came out of it unscathed. I guess if I got hurt I could have sued, no? I mean isn't the hippo a similar occurrence? Neither one of us expected anything bad to happen.

 

[tigris115]

I say just have a stern African or two to wag a figer and say "no, no, no" whenever someone tries something dumb. Works in India

 

[CAustin]

I know you have been there and done that. I recall the story well.
If you had taken some video of that approach it would have been instructive.
Although Youtube is full of "encounters" with Hippo for these twits to learn.

Not sure how instructive watching my short fat legs trying to haul myself up a wet soggy bank would be to these folks.....but we might get a few laughs. Now seeing video with the bull coming my way, mouth open and grunting might have put the proper respect/fear in them. To your point many folks simply have no understanding of what wild animals are capable of.....African or North American.
I visited my wife’s elementary school today. She is the principal and goes to great lengths to enrich the students appreciation of wildlife in general. The fifth grade was in The library hearing a presentation from the Kansas Wildlife folks on the state’s animal inhabitants. Skulls, skins and stuffed representations where there for the kids to see and touch. Included in the visual aids were deer, pronghorn antelope, skunks, coyote, Fox, wolf, bobcats, cougars, bison, badger and a few other items I didn’t get close enough to see what they were.
The best moment for me was when a teacher was explaining that some animals can harm you. She asked the kids which ones they thought could hurt them and you can imagine the across the board responses from kids of the post Disney era! But one little girl allowed that they all can hurt you so leave them alone!!! She is not going to get killed by a HIPPO.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Not a greatest percentage in the class, but what can we expect.

Some years back when teaching a Hunter Education Course I asked the class a question about what they were afraid of. This related to the Survival section: addressing our fear when we were lost in the woods.
This class had a broad range of ages and points of immigration, which made for some interesting answers.
One adult student shared that he was scared of Elephants. For the rest of the class who had only seen Elephants in Zoos or at a Circus it was very strange and they laughed. The student went on to explain why he was scared of Elephants: Having his house crushed in the middle of the night and having family members hurt/killed by an Elephant, brought the chuckles to a halt.

I hope the exposure to wildlife education helps those kids.

 

[CAustin]

Not a greatest percentage in the class, but what can we expect.

Some years back when teaching a Hunter Education Course I asked the class a question about what they were afraid of. This related to the Survival section: addressing our fear when we were lost in the woods.
This class had a broad range of ages and points of immigration, which made for some interesting answers.
One adult student shared that he was scared of Elephants. For the rest of the class who had only seen Elephants in Zoos or at a Circus it was very strange and they laughed. The student went on to explain why he was scared of Elephants: Having his house crushed in the middle of the night and having family members hurt/killed by an Elephant, brought the chuckles to a halt.

I hope the exposure to wildlife education helps those kids.

It’s a start for sure! Didn’t know you taught HE! Thanks for doing that. It’s often a thankless contribution to the community.

 

[leslie hetrick]

i was raised on a farm with two brothers and two sisters, and our jobs were many, feeding and milking the cows and other animals and chickens and operating the tractors, farm trucks, hay mowing and baleing along with planting the crops. what I hated the most was spreading cow shit at 5:00 am driving a john deere with a hand clutch that I had to stand up to put it in gear(age nine). out run in,s with animals and equipment were many and some down right dangerous, loosing a lot of skin and a few broken bones along the way. we all learned that you had to be on your guard around animals and farm equipment at a very early age. when I got my draft notice I was not too sad to say the least, when I got back from VN I only worked to help dad and mom when they needed it. farming just was not for me. when they sold the farm I think my dad was not to happy, but my mother was happy. now when I am driving down the road and a farmer is spreading cow shit and the smell hits my nose I wind the window up and think, better you than me.

 

[BigSteve57]

This was just in the news, coincidentally:
Florida woman attacked by hippo after canoe capsizes on Zimbabwe wildlife tour

0:36 "Hippos are the most dangerous animals in Africa".

A trip down the Zambezi, just like they were doing, is on our bucket list. But I'll keep this in mind!

 

[flatwater bill]

I have been thru (transit) Yellowstone Park about 15 times in the last few years on my way to or from hunting trips. Chinese tourists comprise the most aggressive group of people in the Park, whether in a buffet line, or photographing bison, blocking traffic for miles, .....many of them pushy to the limit......maybe when there are 50 thousand people competing with you for everything you do in life your behavior changes, anyway....my only surprise is that this doesn't happen much more often........FWB

 

[Newboomer]

Electric fences are not cheap to build and maintain. I don’t believe the materials are that much cheaper in Africa.

Besides, you can’t fix stupid. You put up an electric fence to keep out the animals, and then you get sued because drunk guest are peeing on it.

Or the stupid asses will go over or under it to get close to wild animals.