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LYING IN HOSPITAL with bloodied bandages over the deep gashes in his legs, Senegalese fisherman Ali Fall recalls the moment a hippopotamus tried to kill him as he hauled in nets in a local river.
“I came with another fisherman to pick up the nets I had left when the hippopotamus upended our boat. My friend got away but it bit into my left leg, then my right,” said the shaken 25-year-old.
The waters of Gouloumbou in eastern Senegal, a tributary of the river Gambia and the village where Fall lives, have often run red with the blood of his peers.
In the last decade, 25 fishermen have been mauled to death in the giant jaws of these easy to provoke mammals with many more injured, village officials said. “It’s the second time I’ve been attacked, after their first attempt in 2014. I’ve cheated death twice,” said Fall from his hospital bed in the nearby city of Tambacounda.
Back in Gouloumbou, which lies 500 kilometres (310 miles) east of the capital Dakar, village chief Abdoulaye Barro Watt looks out of the windows of his office, next to the river where locals continue to risk death with few other options for a livelihood in this rural area.
Make a living
“They were all fishermen hoping to make a living for their families,” he said.
These men are struggling to survive due to these attacks. I have written so many letters to the authorities, even the fisheries minister, to make them aware of the problem.
Gouloumbou villagers and the massive hippopotamuses once lived together in relative safety, the chief said. “We used to play with them in the river. They were harmless.”
“That has all changed,” said fisherman Abdoulaye Sarr, sitting with a friend, Moussa Bocar Gueye. “They are evil monsters who attack us night and day. Because of them, we haven’t been fishing.”
Both men are from the “thiouballo” ethnic group which has long made its living from fishing but neither will be launching their “pirogue”, or traditional wooden boat, onto the river today.
“It’s three weeks since we last went fishing,” Gueye added. “There aren’t any more fish at the market.”
Hippopotamuses, vegetarians that live in or near swamps and rivers, can weigh up to 1,500 kilogrammes (3,300 pounds) and spend long hours in water to protect their skin from the sun.
Easily irritated with terrifying strength, the mammals kill more humans each year than almost any other animal in Africa because of their volatile nature, according to wildlife experts.
Protected, but deadly
Senegal lists the hippopotamus as a protected species, so culling them is illegal. Their current number is unknown, but a survey is underway to track their presence in the country.
It is not only fishermen who fear the giant beasts. A lack of running water makes villagers dependent on the river to wash themselves and their clothes.
“I’m scared they’ll attack. That’s why I always stay facing the river,” said Aminata Sy, a woman in her forties scrubbing her laundry.
“We don’t have a well or any taps,” she added, keeping a close eye on children swimming nearby. The fishermen have pressed the government to send them motorised boats, and a first lot has been promised.
“The fisheries ministry will provide the fishermen of Gouloumbou with 20 metal pirogues (with motors), which are more resistant to attacks,” said Djibril Signate, national director of inland fishing.
“We are installing a fish farming enclosure in Gouloumbou. The ministry has also distributed nets, hooks and lifejackets so they can fish in pools that are chock full (of fish),” Signate added.
Different explanations are given for the attacks. Fishing officials say hippopotamuses are especially aggressive at this time of year when the females are giving birth. But fisherman Sarr says a decline in superstition is responsible:
Practising magic protected people from the river, but now they don’t treat it properly, washing their clothes and dishes.
He warned, darkly, that a Malian fisherman was to blame, after cursing the village following an argument over pricing in 2007. Whatever the cause, fisherman Fall will take no more chances. “After I get better, I’m changing profession,” he said.
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TLDR version – Humans encroach on animal territory. Surprised when animals attack.
Exactly. Hippos are herbivores so only attack when threatened so obviously these fisherman are getting too close
Do they taste like chicken ?
It’s not just Africa.
Many an innocent drunken man has been mauled by hippos in coppers or dicey’s.
But they’re massively territorial and slightly dim, a bit like a Healy-Rae. So they may attack if someone even comes into view, also a bit like a Healy-Rae.
The U.S., has a lot of them and they hang out at your local Fastfood shop.
Even he crocs are afraid of the hippos.
Whats the difference between a hippo and a zippo? One is really heavy and the other is a little lighter :)
More than a little sensationalist. Everyone that has been on safari know hippos, bush pigs and water buffalo are the most dangerous animals & are involved in most mailings & attacks. Hippos & pigs are distant cousins which is why, like pigs hippos get sun burnt & so stay in the water.
If they can manage on the Zambezi they’ll manage in Senegal – anyone w knowledge of the natural world knows there is something missing in this article. 20 odd over ten years is probably below par for a hippo rich environment.
Or anyone that watches QI. hippos are the most dangerous animal in Africa
Apart from mosquitoes
Animal?
Darn Racist hippos. You’d never see them surrounding a European village, oppressing White people. Makes me sick.
Hungry hippos
Could they not just eat the hippos instead of fishing
Somebody was watching National Geographic last nite.
Still a better love story than Twilight!
Looks like their looking for an excuse to lift the protection order and start a cull,maybe they should look at something else to make money other than fishing
Arnie, yeah, perhaps driving taxis or sub-contracting for Apple. Better still, they could start a Séanad and all get seats.
“Practising magic protected people from the river, but now they don’t treat it properly, washing their clothes and dishes.” That finished off the article with a completely different image to the poor innocent fisherman in the Rest of the article!
Hippos are cool. More power to them.
Someone else is warning of an increases in shark attacks this year, now here’s the plan, we introduce sharks into ……..
I do not really know or this is the same village but about 2 years ago I was watching a program on TV. The program was about people interacting with animals in Africa. Some expert was send to most dangerous areas and they show a village where fisherman believe in their fate, so if they go fishing or come back from it they will go in their small boats right through the heard of hippos rather than just go around. No surprise with such attitude there will be a lot of people killed.
HUNGRY HUNGRY HIPPOS JUST GOT REAL!!!!!
They re not vegetarian.They have been seen eating Zebra ,Wildebeest and other Hippos
Injured victims of hippo attacks can only be treated by doctors who have taken the hippocratic oath.
Ever been to Africa Arnie?
Nature fighting back on humans?
Attack of the Killer Hippos. Ffs did this come from the National Enquirer?
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