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COLOMBIA has called off the hunt to kill a drug lord's escaped hippo and will instead try to relocate the beast after its mate was shot dead by order of the government, sparking outrage from animal rights groups. The giant animals were imported from Africa by late cocaine king Pablo Escobar and put in his zoo. They escaped in 2006 to live in the wild near the Magdalena river in northern Colombia, causing concerns about local public safety. Colombia was shocked on Friday when photographs were published of the dead hippo, named "Pepe", and by news that the hunt was...

Hunters have shot dead a fugitive hippopotamus that escaped from a menagerie owned by Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar.They are now searching for another two hippos, which have been branded a danger to society, just like their former owner. The trio had been living in a tropical valley after escaping almost three years ago from Escobar's property. They were part of an exotic collection of animals that the cocaine baron assembled during his heyday as a billionaire drug trafficker. Pablo Escobar's fugitive hippo spotted in northern Colombia Colombia's most-wanted drug lord arrested Lions and tigers kept as pets in danger...

Bounty hunters have killed one of three fugitive hippos who escaped from a zoo founded by the fallen Colombian drug baron Pablo Escobar. The other two remain on the run in the north west of the South American country. The one-and-a-half ton male was killed by two hunters near a river in Antioquia province on June 18, but the news was first reported on Friday by Colombian news media. The three mammals bust loose from the zoo two years ago, surviving on the lush vegetation of the steamy Magdalena valley, far from their native Africa, ever since. Colombian wildlife authorities...

Is a Hippo a Pig or a Whale? March 24, 2009 — Two teams of evolutionists are having a spat over whale evolution. Thewissen and team (Northeastern Ohio U) say the hippo is close to the pig, but Jessica Theodor (U of Calgary) and Jonathan Geisler (Georgia Southern U) say it’s in the whale family tree. Their arguments and counter-arguments were published in Nature last week...

Bangkok: A hippopotamus swallowed a circus dwarf in a "freak accident" in northern Thailand according to a columnist in the Pattaya Mail. The Grapevine column reported" A circus dwarf nicknamed Od,died recently when he bounced sideways from a trampoline and was swallowed by a yawning hippopotamus waiting to appear in the next act" "Vets said Hilda the Hippo had a gag reflex which caused her to swallow. More than 1000 spectators continued to applaud wildly until they realized there had been a tragic mistake"

Chico the hungry pygmy hippo gets a helping hand (puppet) to rediscover his appetite A pygmy hippo which started turning up his snout at food has been given a helping hand to start eating again. Chico worried keepers at his home in Heythrop Zoological Gardens when he began to refuse food. Chico chomps happily on his favourite carrot sticks fed to him by Gloria But the little animal was lured back to his trough under the watchful eye of Gloria, a hand puppet... Chico was refusing to eat until he met his new puppet playmate Zoo keepers... said they had...

Bo (woof) In Commentary: This story is unbelievable. So much so that I had to make sure it wasn’t posted on April 1st. Take a read, or if you’re already feeling like the dog days of summer are upon us, just watch the video at the end. (To come upon a hippopotamus in the wild would be sobering and cause for serious alarm, but a South African family has become surrogate parents to a hippo in their house as their pampered pet. Jessica the hippo prefers her home creature comforts to a life in the wild as she wanders around...

AYIA NAPA, Cyprus - An abattoir used by early Cypriots, a place where animals went to die, or a shelter that ultimately proved a death trap? Cypriot and Greek scientists are studying a collapsed cave filled with the fossilized remains of extinct dwarf hippopotamuses — descendants of hippos believed to have reached the island a quarter-million years ago. Paleontologists have unearthed an estimated 80 dwarf hippos in recent digs at the site just outside the resort of Ayia Napa on the island's southeastern coast. Hundreds more may lie beneath an exposed layer of jumbled fossils. Scientists hope the fossil haul,...

Jessica the Hippo has made herself a member of this South African family.

Shakira against war in Lebanon Rock star calls for immediate intervention to stop war in Lebanon, says 'we need leaders who care about people and their needs, not those who create dispute, anger and hate' Sagie Ben Nun Rock star Shakira, the daughter of a Lebanese father, calls for international diplomatic intervention aimed at bringing about a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. "It breaks my heart, that we remain silent while this is happening," Shakira said over the weekend. "I hope that my generation will call upon the world to intervene to end this conflict. There has to be immediate...

Yes kids!For only $12,500 you too can have Helen Thomas give a lecture at your event.I'm sure it's a rousing good time!

Phalaborwa - A hippo killed a man who was forced to wash in a river on Monday, apparently because the water supply to his village had been reduced to a trickle. Thomas Ngobeni, 47, was bathing in a river in Lulekani near Phalaborwa in Limpopo when the animal attacked him shortly after midday. Superintendent Moatshe Ngoepe of Mopani police said on Tuesday: "A huge hippo suddenly appeared from the water and clamped its jaws around Ngobeni's right leg." Ngobeni shouted for help and loudly clapped his hands, drawing the attention of a passer-by. "Amazingly, the hippo let go of the...

NAIVASHA, Kenya (AP) - A hippopotamus flipped and trampled an Australian tourist to death at a popular resort in central Kenya, police said Tuesday. Vicky Elizabeth Bartlett, 50, was with a group of 12 tourists at Lake Naivasha on Monday night when the hippo attacked, said Simon Kiragu, the regional police chief. "The hippo attacked the woman, flipping her into the air before tossing her on the ground and trampling her," he said. Bartlett was rushed to a hospital but died while undergoing treatment. No one else was injured in the attack. Wilflife experts say hippos can pose extreme danger...

Last Updated: Thursday, 6 January, 2005, 17:01 GMT E-mail this to a friend Printable version Odd couple make friends in Kenya Mzee and Owen have become firm friends despite the age gap A baby hippo rescued after floods in Kenya last week has befriended a 100-year-old tortoise in Kenya. The one-year-old hippo calf christened Owen was found alone and dehydrated by wildlife rangers near the Indian Ocean. He was placed in an enclosure at a wildlife sanctuary in the coastal city of Mombasa and befriended a male tortoise of a similar colour. According to a park official, they sleep together,...

The wife of Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards said Monday that Republican criticism of Sen. John Kerry for mentioning Mary Cheney's sexual orientation was a distraction from more pressing issues. Campaigning in Denver, Elizabeth Edwards also argued that President Bush has tried to politicize the issue of gay rights in pressing for a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. ``I believe the president has tried to use the constitutional amendment as a wedge issue, instead of addressing things like health care or real reform and attention to our veterans' issues,'' Edwards said. Mrs. Edwards also said she was upset...

Hippo kills Mpuma man 23/02/2004 15:17 - (SA) p>Zenzele Kuhlase Hazyview - The mangled body of an Mpumalanga villager was recovered on Sunday after he was attacked by an adult hippopotamus near the holiday town of Hazyview. Alfred Dube's body, with deep bite marks to his torso, was found trampled in a thicket over 10m from the Sabie River by distraught friends and neighbours. He was seized by the hippo on Friday morning while swimming across the strongly flowing river with two friends. "The men knew the river was home to crocodiles and hippo, but claim they had no other...