The U.S. almost became a nation of hippo ranchers

That same trader whom I wrote about in here:

https://albertcory50.substack.com/p/how-about-not-overcoming...

was on a trip in Africa where the tourists were, uncharacteristically, allowed to hike instead of riding in a truck. They found out why it's not usually done when a hippo came charging around a bend and took a huge chunk out of a hiker's leg. She would have bled to death had there not been a trained nurse in the party.

Hippos are aggressive even if you're not bothering them.

Book recommendation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_of_Teeth

Awesome detailed story with some recent discussion: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35951031]

You cannot really farm ("ranch"?) hippos because they are not suitable for domestication. You cannot keep them in herds (they fight each other) and you cannot safely handle them (they fight you). It's actually only a very small number of animals that are domesticable. That's why of the 1000s of species we mostly eat pigs, cows, sheep/goats, horses, and a few birds.

South America may yet succeed, with their mini hippos.

I learned today the hippos sweat is pink

Lake Cow, and not River Horse?

Title queues obligatory European joke about the American waistsize: "I thought they did?".