Thanks to years of campaigning by wildlife conservation groups, it’s widely known that Africa’s elephants and rhinos are threatened by the trade in their valuable tusks and horns. Laws and regulations have been tightened, and in many countries it’s now difficult, if not impossible, to legally sell elephant and rhino products.
Less well known is that Africa’s other large pachyderm, the common hippopotamus, is also threatened in many parts of the continent, and that thousands of hippo products, including leather, skulls, and teeth, are legally bought and sold around the world every year.
A small consortium of U.S. animal welfare and conservation groups is now trying to change this, pressing the U.S. government to increase legal protections for the common hippopotamus under the Endangered Species Act.
Read more at: Yale Environment 360
Photo Credit: Nel_Botha-NZ