Is this really that bad, or have I been in Malawi for too long?
Ok so it is the rainy season here so the rivers are all flooding and really fast flowing. Actually today 5 people were really late for our workshop as they were stranded on the other side of the river and Rumphi was only accessible by the big trucks! Anyway, occasionally stray Hippos from Vwaza marsh wildlife reserve venture out of the park and get swept down stream. (Perhaps they are going on an adventure or holiday!) This happened yesterday and what a stir it caused!
The locals of course shot the beast. Lucie had found out about it from her night watchman who had been to see the hippo so she had also been and called us to tell us about the excitement. We decided to go for a look at what was going on.
We followed a line of Malawians all looking for a bit of the action, weaving in and out of the maize and following a very muddy path that was probably not there 5 hours earlier.
We heard a lot of noise and excitement ahead and eventually right before us was this bloody mess with several men and their machetes literally hacking away at this poor dead animal. It seemed like half of Rumphi had turned out to watch the event and in the hope if picking up some tasty hippo meat. I know that hippos are large animals but the size of this thing sprawled everywhere was immense.
I was of course the only ‘mzungu’ there so out came the camera to catch the action. This caused even more excitement and the men with the machetes where posing with blood dripping down them and with their thumbs up! I even got to put my hand in the hippos mouth and hold its teeth!
So is it wrong that these people practically poached (although not quite) this poor animal that we in the west pay money to go and watch or is it this perfectly acceptable? A year ago I would have said that what they did was wrong and been disgusted by the whole event. However I now realise that it is down to a matter of survival. Although hippos don’t attack humans like a lion would they are still very dangerous animals that could easily kill a few people, especially if they get between it and its water source as they feel threatened and then charge. The hippo was also destroying the local’s maize which means people will go hungry by this time next year. Plus it is also the ‘hungry’ season just now when the maize from last year is running low and the new crop won’t be ready for at least a month so the bonus of hippo meat is a real treat. Although I’m not sure how the money works as apparently because a police man shot the hippo, it now belongs to the government and they should be auctioning off the meat so the government get money for it (or who ever is in charge that day!) but we saw many people proudly carrying about the meat, still dripping with fresh blood! And I reckoned that the people who had the job of hacking up the bits had a big say in who got what! Also apparently it is just to difficult to try and shoo the hippos back upstream in the rainy season so it would have just continued to be a threat.
So after a few snaps we left with blood splattered on my trousers back to the house, without any meat and thinking about how the need for food and survival overrules any other thoughts. Decide for yourself. Was going to upload some of the action shots but didn’t want to gross you all out although the video action would be great on You tube!!
The locals of course shot the beast. Lucie had found out about it from her night watchman who had been to see the hippo so she had also been and called us to tell us about the excitement. We decided to go for a look at what was going on.
We followed a line of Malawians all looking for a bit of the action, weaving in and out of the maize and following a very muddy path that was probably not there 5 hours earlier.
We heard a lot of noise and excitement ahead and eventually right before us was this bloody mess with several men and their machetes literally hacking away at this poor dead animal. It seemed like half of Rumphi had turned out to watch the event and in the hope if picking up some tasty hippo meat. I know that hippos are large animals but the size of this thing sprawled everywhere was immense.
I was of course the only ‘mzungu’ there so out came the camera to catch the action. This caused even more excitement and the men with the machetes where posing with blood dripping down them and with their thumbs up! I even got to put my hand in the hippos mouth and hold its teeth!
So is it wrong that these people practically poached (although not quite) this poor animal that we in the west pay money to go and watch or is it this perfectly acceptable? A year ago I would have said that what they did was wrong and been disgusted by the whole event. However I now realise that it is down to a matter of survival. Although hippos don’t attack humans like a lion would they are still very dangerous animals that could easily kill a few people, especially if they get between it and its water source as they feel threatened and then charge. The hippo was also destroying the local’s maize which means people will go hungry by this time next year. Plus it is also the ‘hungry’ season just now when the maize from last year is running low and the new crop won’t be ready for at least a month so the bonus of hippo meat is a real treat. Although I’m not sure how the money works as apparently because a police man shot the hippo, it now belongs to the government and they should be auctioning off the meat so the government get money for it (or who ever is in charge that day!) but we saw many people proudly carrying about the meat, still dripping with fresh blood! And I reckoned that the people who had the job of hacking up the bits had a big say in who got what! Also apparently it is just to difficult to try and shoo the hippos back upstream in the rainy season so it would have just continued to be a threat.
So after a few snaps we left with blood splattered on my trousers back to the house, without any meat and thinking about how the need for food and survival overrules any other thoughts. Decide for yourself. Was going to upload some of the action shots but didn’t want to gross you all out although the video action would be great on You tube!!
posted by Caroline Pitcairn at
12:14 pm
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