Over 27 hippos have been slaughtered in a major “tourist zone” in Western Niger by villagers who hunted them for destroying crops and harming livestock, according to local authorities.
In an interview with AFP, prefect of Ayorou region, Jando Rhichi Algaher, said that the “massacre started in March, and the assumed dramatic proportions” mainly in the island settlements along the Niger river.
Large numbers of hippos and several bird species have made Ayorou, about 200 kilometres from the capital Niamey, a popular place for tourists.
Patrols by troops “have helped slow the slaughter”, Algaher said.
“The locals have killed a large number of hippopotamuses, although this species is protected,” Environment Minister Almoustapha Garba said on state radio.
“We urged the local people not to break the law and took note of their concerns,” said Garba, who promised to pay compensation to the affected farmers – according to Phys.org.
Tensions are reportedly high in Ayorou after the arrest of around ten people directly linked with a killing of a hippo.
In May, local tribal chiefs issued warnings about hippos, saying they were ravaging crops and threatening boats on the Niger river.
In 2014, 12 schoolchildren aged between 12 and 13 were killed when a hippo attacked their boat on the Niger at Libore, a village near Niamey.
