Hippo Hunting Safaris

October 6, 2008

The first explorers who saw the hippo first called it a sea cow and hunted them because they have vast amounts of meat and fat on them. One of Africa’s fully grown adult hippos can weigh around 2 tonnes, but do not let that weight fool you because they can run 20 kilometers an hour with their ivory tusks that are around a metre and a half long.

Unfortunately, because of it’s attitude when it comes to the hippos territory it is the animal in Africa most responsible for human deaths even more then crocodiles. They even attack boats canoes and humans that find themselves in their territory. But if you respect their territory they will mind their own business and just float in the water.

The hunt for the hippo is not a difficult task at all. 90% of the hippos that are killed are shot from roughly 50 yards away while they are in the water. Someone chooses a bull and then walks up to the river bank waits for the bull to raise its head from the water and then just simply shoot it and the hunting mission is accomplished.

The dead hippo normally floats to the surface of the water within a half an hour. After this, at a suitable time with no other hippos around it is dragged to the bank. The most common shot made to kill the hippo is to the brain because once you shoot it in the brain you do not have to worry about it being dead or not. Right between the two eyes is the best area for a hunter to aim for. The best countries to go to for hippo hunting safaris are Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Botswana. You can go to South Africa however unfortunately it is rather expensive compared to the other places.

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