Rebels Killing Hippos

The news that Congolese rebels shot to death several hundred hippos recently challenges the Grumpy Vegan’s commitment to nonviolence. Men with guns tests one in of itself but when they start killing animals for no reason other than to eat or profit from the sale of dead animal body parts is a combination that makes one want to see the tables turned. Not that the suggestion is being made that hippos would, if they could, shoot people but we can fantasize for one moment, can’t we?, of hippos crushing men with guns or biting off their private parts while the hippos smile their glorious toothy grin. Not hard to imagine, is it? Especially when it’s reported that two decades ago there was an estimated 22,875 hippos in the Virunga national park. A recent count put the population at 315.