By Karen Paolillo

Published in 1997 

What have a young English schoolgirl and a lady living in the middle of the African bush got in common? The love of hippos- those great big lumbering animals that spend most of their lives under water. And why do they spend so much time under water? The old men in the villages tell the story of how when God created all animals, by the time he came to making the hippopotamus, he had used up all the beautiful skins and horns he had. Not wanting to waste anything, he used the leftovers to create the Hippo. When the hippo saw what he looked like, he was very distressed, "When everyone sees me they will laugh."After much careful thought, he approached God and asked if he could live his life under water so nobody would see him. "No!" cried the King of the Fish, "For with that enormous mouth he will swallow all of us fish!" The unhappy Hippo replied, "If I promise not to eat any fish, will you let me hide under the water?" "But how will we know that you haven't eaten fish?" retorted the King of the Fish. "To prove I haven't, every time I defecate, I will spread it out so you can come and inspect for fish bones," replied the Hippo. Having given the matter much careful thought and after discussing the matter with his wise fish, the King of the Fish finally agreed, and to this day the hippo, using his tail, spreads his dung for inspection and lives under the water, only coming out to eat at night and occasionally, when he thinks nobody is looking, to warm himself in the sun.

Although hippos find themselves unattractive, they endear themselves to those who take time to watch them. Norman Carr, the doyen of wildlife conservation in Zambia, mentions in his latest book, Kakuli, an unusual incident: A dead hippo at the water's edge attracted a number of hungry crocodiles. Another hippo came out of the water to chase the crocodiles away. Nuzzling the dead hippo, it lay down beside it and rested its head on the body, before returning to the water. As Carr says, this leads to a debate: Was the hippo being "caring" as we would like to believe, or was it just resting its heavy head while it lay in the warm sun, as the scientist would have us believe?

Karen Paolillo, the lady living in the bush, is carrying out extensive research into the behaviour of hippos, so one-day questions like this will be answered. The purpose of the study is to help protect hippos. Karen believes that with people taking over more land, droughts and pollution in rivers and dams, the survival of the hippo is at risk. In the last decade hippo numbers have declined dramatically, especially in West and Central Africa. The hippo population of the Zimbabwe Lowveld, Karen's home, once numbered over 2,000. After the terrible droughts of 1983/84 and 1991/92, only about 350 remain. Karen and her husband, Jean-Roger, were living in the Save Valley Conservancy--the largest privately owned wildlife reserve in the world--when the 1991/92 drought struck, the worst in living memory. Like many others, Karen and Jean-Roger worked hard to feed the dying animals, using their own income and raising money to get food and water to the area. Karen rescued the last 13 hippos in the Turgwe River, a river that dried up completely--leaving the water-loving giants completely destitute.With funding from a British animal charity, Care for the Wild International, she and her husband built a cement and masonry pan, filled with water from a borehole fed by a 16km - long pipeline. Not only were the hippos saved, but also five calves were born in 1993 and the hippos have bred every year since.

So what does a young schoolgirl in England "Anita Bulusu" have to do with all of this? Hearing of the plight of the hippo and Karen and Jean-Roger's total commitment to them, she raised money by holding a concert at her school. This now means that Jean-Roger is busy laying piping to a borehole, and he holds down a very busy job as a geologist at the same time! All they need now is funds for pump equipment.

Life in the bush spent observing hippos might sound glamorous, but the harsh realities of living without luxuries like running water, electricity or a flushing toilet can become tiresome. But to Karen it is all part of ensuring hippos are here to stay. Walking at least 10km a day, in very high temperatures most of the year, she is studying the behavioural patterns of two groups of hippos--not so much fun when you have been bitten by a violin spider, and there is no contact with the outside world, and you have to get to a doctor in a serious hurry. We are pleased to say Karen's recent limping days are over and is back on top form.

A thought with CITES (Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species) coming up - many are most concerned about the future of the elephant. What about the future of the hippo? Before the elephant ivory ban in 1988, sales of hippo ivory stood at 5 640lb. In 1991, after the ban, they increased to 30 100lbs. Who's poaching our hippo? Karen has established the Turgwe Hippo Trust and a support organisation through which one can adopt one of her hippos. She also welcomes visitors to her home from which she works. Turgwe Hippo Trust Hippo Haven, P.O Box 322 Chiredzi Zimbabwe.