Okay. I don't have a list of feelings for you
to choose from today. I guess my categories are
all feeling based. I chose one, and this is not
gonna be happy feelings. I guess I was feeling
like Taylor, and I chose this. April 8, 2025.
CBS News. Is that a good or a bad one, Taylor?
It's reasonable. You keep track. Okay, thank
you. Fine by me. No author. Dozens of hippos
die in anthrax poisoning in Virunga National
Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Oh
no! Those aren't the hippos who need dying! I
know, they're the opposite of the hippos that
need dying. And we don't need anything in favour
of the hippos that need dying. So, Goma, Democratic
Republic of Congo. Anthrax poisoning has killed
about 50 hippos in Virunga, Africa's oldest national
park, which is located in the Democratic Republic
of Congo's Troubled East, the head of the park
told AFP on Tuesday. The toxin is caused by a
spore -forming bacterium, Alocas anthracis, which
survives for decades in soil where animals that
died of anthrax or where carriers were buried.
It is transmissible to humans and potentially
fatal in its inhaled form. Hippopotamuses were
found floating in a river south of Lake Edward,
oh my god, which separates the DRC from Uganda.
Park director Emmanuel Demirode said, the local
office of the Congolese Institute. It's gotta
take some time for you to approach a floating
hippo and being like, is that a dead hippo? Well,
I'm definitely looking at a photo and it definitely
looks like a dead hippo. It's a very sad photo.
The local office of the Congolese Institute for
Nature Conservation in the North Kivu province.
where the dead hippos were found recommended
precautionary measures including avoiding eating
bushmeat quote although this disease mainly affects
wildlife it poses a potential risk of transmission
to humans as well as domestic animals end quote
said the body which manages national parks in
the drc did you just say the body said that like
the hippo body said the body local office of
the congolese i think that's what they're referring
to by the body right you don't think it's the
hippo bodies okay no probably not gases releasing
from their body. They bogus us to do all sorts
of things. Oh, I make lights because we have
to. Varuga National Park was established in 1925
and is renowned for its wildlife, particularly
mountain gorillas and magnificent landscapes.
It is located at the heart of conflicts that
have been tearing the Eastern DRC apart for the
past 30 years. Just last week, Congolese President
Felix Tshishkedi commuted the death sentences
of three Americans who had been convicted on
charges of participating in a botched 2024 coup
attempt. Pardon came as Congolese authorities
hoped to strike a minerals deal with the US in
exchange for security support that could help
the DRC fight Rwandan -backed M23 rebels in the
conflict hit east of the country. several times
in Varunga and other nature reserves in Africa.
Is that not weird? I'm hoping that they give
us more information on this because I'm pretty
confused myself right now. I'm wondering why.
I always thought of like a forced poisoning when
it was Anthrax, but it's sounding like it's really
not. It sounds like it's naturally occurring,
but it's not really giving any more details,
right? Am I right? No, it sounds very natural.
According to the Varunga website, the park was
home to the largest hippo population in the world.
in the 1970s. About 29 ,000 animals, but since
then instability in the region has led to increased
poaching and a 95 % decline in the size of the
population. Jesus Christ. The World Wildlife
Fund lists hippos as a vulnerable species with
an estimated 115 ,000 to 130 ,000 believed to
live in the wild globally. That's like all of
the ones in South America. Oh yeah, we might
have to root for those hippos. I hope those weren't
the only five that were in Africa. That was the
end of the article. Wow. That took a sad article
and just left me sad and confused and torn. Yeah,
it brings a new light to the South American hippos
and how important they are to the species. And
the important conservation work of drug dealers
in that region. Yeah, I guess we gotta change
our colours on that and root for them now. How
did they get anthrax? I don't know enough about
anthrax. Outside of those scares in like 2001,
I know nothing about it. That's what I envisioned
too, so I was hoping for more information in
that article, but it was pretty limited, unfortunately.
I'm sorry about this Wednesday to you. That's
okay, we're giving people 48 hours to have some
perspective and then come back here for some
fun, because we very rarely make you guys sad
upset in the Friday episode. I hope so. That's
what we do. That's true, that's true. I thought
you meant Wednesdays and I was like, I don't
know. It's generally sad. Anyhow, bye. Bye.