Goma : At least 50 hippos and other large animals have been killed by anthrax poisoning in eastern Congo’s Virunga National Park and have been spotted floating along a major river that feeds one of Africa’s great lakes, the head of the park said on Tuesday.
Tests confirmed anthrax poisoning, said Virunga Park director Emmanuel De Merode, adding that buffalo have been killed too. The exact cause of the poisoning was not yet clear.
Images shared by the park show the hippopotamuses motionless on their sides and backs in the Ishasha River, or caught among foliage on the river’s muddy banks.
The deaths represent a major loss for the park, which has been working to increase the number of hippos in recent decades after poaching and war reduced the population from over 20,000 to a few hundred by 2006. The park now holds about 1,200 hippos.
Anthrax is a serious disease usually caused by bacteria found naturally in soil. Wild animals can become infected if they inhale anthrax spores in contaminated soil, plants, or water.
