Two Tractor Dead Hippo Pull

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Geo: -12.895, 31.9228

Two Tractor Hippo Pull:

When we were talking to the people from Belgium over breakfast, they said there was a dead hippo down by the Barefoot Camp. We went down there to see if indeed it was dead and sure enough it was.

Now what do you do?

Conrad the camp manager told the gathered onlookers that they were going to have to move it by tractor.

One traveler was quite insistent that the hippo be left 'in situ' but Conrad said no, the smell would soon be overwhelming and for sanitation reasons it must be moved.

Evidently as the river continues to dry up, dead hippos from territorial fights is not uncommon. With all of us watching, here comes the tractor. The sand looks like it is very dry but it is not underneath! The tractor bogged down, they shortened the chain. Got a little stuck. So they borrowed another tractor and hooked up both.

Finally, out of the mud comes the huge dead hippo and off they start pulling it away.

Laura and I watched the gruesome scene until we heard a very loud snap over the sound of the tractors. We assumed it was the neck breaking and turned away in unison to go find other more pleasant things to watch and photograph ! 😊

They had to get the second tractor out to help move it up off the sand, up the bluff, and into the edge of the bush. Guess they didn't want to leave it down on the sand because it seems that some people do not quite listen to the rules and would have gone to close. This time of year there are many elephants crossing back and forth and that would have been too dangerous.

Not to worry though, the creative folks at Wildlife Camp have trip action night cameras to record the, uh, erm, 'feast.'

Check out Conrad's great photo's on Facebook by 'Like' the Wildlife Camp page

https://www.facebook.com/WildlifeCamp

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Photos

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