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Drought in northern Botswana is so severe, hippos are resorting to eating DUNG to fill their painfully starving bellies. Please, help us feed them. |
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Dear friends,
The scenes are harrowing: A hundred starving hippos desperately searching the parched landscape for scraps to eat, their helpless, newborn infants by their sides. |
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 | Credit: Shutter Stock |
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This is the reality in Botswana’s Makgadikgadi National Park, where we have been working to help mitigate the effects of a terrible drought. As you read this, vulnerable hippos are starving and they URGENTLY need your help. |
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100 hippos face death by starvation due to the horrific, relentless drought in Botswana. Please help us feed them FAST. |
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Recently my team and I visited Botswana to oversee the beginning phases of the drought-mitigation project you are helping us implement. Northern parts of the country have been affected by a drought so severe, animals are dropping dead, infants are being left orphaned, and human/wildlife conflict for water is leaving countless wild animals dead. |
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 | There are many baby hippos with their mothers that are also at risk of dying. Credit: ASI/Taryn Slabbert |
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Right now, we are starting to provide crucial water to the desperate animals, but there is another urgent need we must address…
…food for 100 starving, vulnerable hippos.
Drought has wiped out the food sources for this rapidly declining pod, and roads and fences – erected to keep wildlife out of human settlements – are obstructing their access to areas that may offer vital sustenance and nutrition for the hippos and their young calves.
This year, Botswana has experienced its driest wet season in 40 years, with less than 20% of its expected rainfall. These deadly conditions are made worse by extreme heat steadily climbing above 99℉ (37℃). Water is drying up, and with it, food sources are rapidly disappearing – a tragic result of climate change and the impact of the El Niño climate patterns. |
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 | | Credit: David Dugmore |
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The consequences of drought have been devastating for wild animals, and with no sign of rains to come, more animals will die – unless we help now. |
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Food has almost completely run out for the hippos, and in another three weeks, they will be in serious trouble.
During times of food scarcity, hungry hippos can go for up to three weeks without eating, but any longer and they are doomed. Right now, there is no food left, and time is quickly running out. One adult hippo needs up to 110 pounds (50 kilograms) of food every day, and this pod has been walking miles every day in search of food they never find. |
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Ravenous hippos are so desperate for food, they are eating ELEPHANT DUNG to survive! |
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The hippos are so hungry, they are now resorting to eating elephant dung to fill their painfully empty bellies. It is a truly heart-breaking sight.
Our partner, Moela Safari – situated near a waterhole where the hippos flock to find precious water – has pledged to get the animals fed if we can help raise the funds.
With your support today, 100 starving hippos can receive life-saving food, saving them from slowly succumbing to starvation. |
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 | This baby hippo died after its mother became too weak and malnourished to feed it. Credit: ASI |
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As the animals become increasingly desperate for food, they may start to break fences and cross roads to approach villages in a last-ditch attempt to find food. This will almost certainly pose a risk to human life, and communities are likely to kill any hippos who get too close, posing yet another threat to their lives.
By providing reliable food sources within the protected Makgadikgadi National Park, we can ensure they neither starve to death nor get injured or killed in their frantic search for food. |
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We urgently need your help to provide food for the next five months. For every $4,000 we raise (approximately £3,140), we can feed 100 hippos for a month, protecting these precious wild animals and their defenseless calves from misery and death.
100 hungry hippos are hoping for your compassion today. Please, donate as much as you possibly can, and help us save their lives. |
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Saving animals and the planet,
 General Manager
Animal Survival International |
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P.S. 100 hippos battling Botswana’s worst drought in 40 years are starving and eating ELEPHANT DUNG to survive. We MUST get them fed, and fast! They are desperately hoping for your help today. Please donate as much as you can and help us show compassion to these important wild animals. |
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