Dangerous hippos

Do hippos really kill “almost 3,000 people a year [in Africa]”? [ FT344:19] I mean, that’s eight a day and nine on Sundays. And they don’t even live in heavily populated areas. I supposed it’s a good job they aren’t carnivorous. Steve Yates Birmingham, West Midlands

Editor’s note: It was the Daily Telegraph (6 July 2016) that claimed hippos kill “almost 3,000 people a year”. According to animaldanger.com, hippos “pose the biggest threat to those living in the continent of Africa”, and kill “500+” people per annum. However, Wikipedia says that “there is no reliable research to support” the claim that hippos kill more people in Africa than do lions and elephants.