Over 40 hippopotamuses have gotten stuck in a shrinking pool of mud and water in a game reserve in Namibia and are at risk of dying of hunger and thirst in the mud.
The pool, which is in the Wuparo Conservancy near the capital Windhoek, was fed from a nearby river but prolonged drought has dried up the source.
The hippopotamuses have been stucked in the pool for months now and the Livingstone Wildlife Camp has been helping the conservancy to pump water into the pool to keep the animals alive.
“This has worked so far but we desperately need financial assistance to cover the cost of petrol or solar installation, for the pump,” the manager of the camp said.
One hippo calf has already died, the manager said.
He did not respond to calls or text messages from the media.
Namibia is known globally for its animal conservation efforts, with almost 40% of its land under conservation management.
“We have been alerted of the situation of the hippos. We were not aware that the hippos were in a critical state,” Romeo Muyanda, a spokesman for the environment, forestry and tourism ministry, said.
“Now that we know, we have dispatched our team to go and investigate and see what would be the best solution,” he added.