Hunters shoot killer hippo

Published on 04/07/2012 02:00

Hunters in Nigeria have shot dead a hippopotamus that killed two fishermen.

Local hunters killed the hippo in the town of Shelleng on the Benue river, said Babangida Jimeta, head of the hunters’ association of Adamawa State.

He said they were on the look-out for two other hippos that had turned violent in a sanctuary for about 200 on Kiri dam.

“We don’t have pacifying weapons,” Mr Jimeta said. “Only people at national parks and doctors have those. Even while killing the hippopotamus, we nearly died in the river.”

The chief of Shelleng, Baba Ibrahim Italiya Shelleng, said the hippo killed two fishermen last Saturday. He said others had smashed canoes and destroyed rice fields.