if you were to travel down the rio magdalena just north of the colombian capital of bogota
you might come across some rather out of place wildlife a herd of african hippopotamuses the herd
which now numbers nearly a hundred is descended from four individuals imported in the 1980s by
notorious drug lord pablo escobar and kept in a private zoo on his estate in puerto triompho
when escobar was killed in 1993 the hippos escaped into the surrounding rivers and multiplied and
multiplied and multiplied the enormous invasive species then proceeded to wreak havoc on the local
ecosystem destroying local plant life disrupting the habitat of native animals like crocodiles and
manatees and killing fish with copious amounts of noxious feces if left unchecked by alder's
fear the population could reach a thousand by 2035 causing untold environmental damage but as bizarre
as this environmental crisis might seem the exact same scenario might very well have played out in
the united states more than 100 years ago thanks to one of the strangest bills in u.s congressional
history this is the wild and unlikely story of how the u.s government tried to introduce hippo
ranching to america america's long forgotten plan to introduce africa's river horses to the swamps
and buyers of louisiana was the brainchild of one frederick russell burnham and so absurdly rugged
competent and accomplished that his life reads more like an adventure novel than actual history
born in 1861 in minnesota by age 14 burnham had learned all the necessary skills to become a
military scout a combination of spy tracker and saboteur with no equivalent in modern warfare
to this end he taught himself to ride shoot left-handed on horseback fight hand to hand
track live off the land and overcome extremes of heat cold and hunger his exploits during the
apache wars at the end of the 19th century earned him a reputation for near supernatural discipline
self-sufficiency and familiarity with the land leading to him being dubbed king of the scouts
and the most complete human being who ever lived as journalist richard harding davis wrote
he has trained himself to endure the most appalling fatigues hunger thirst
and wounds has subdued the brain to infinite patience has learned to force every nerve in
his body to absolute obedience to still even the beating of his heart he reads the face of nature
as you read your morning paper his life is an endless chain of impossible achievements in
1893 having run out of wars to fight in north america burnham sailed for south africa and
joined the british army serving in the first and second matabele wars in 1894 and 1896 and
the second anglo-bar war from to 1899-1902 during this period burnham also found the time to travel
to alaska to participate in the klondike gold rush though to his great disappointment this
prevented him from biting in the spanish-american war in south africa burnham once again earned a
reputation for ruggedness and cunning his many daring exploits including hiding in an aardvark
borough for two days while observing an enemy camp floating down a river disguised as a cow
carcass and evading an enemy patrol despite being crushed by his horse so impressed was one of his
commanders major general robert baden-powell that he later claimed to have founded the boy scouts
in the hopes of raising a generation of young men as competent as burnham and if that wasn't badass
enough nearly a century later burnham would serve as one of the main inspirations for the character
of indiana jones in 1910 burnham's intimate knowledge of the african wilderness convinced him
that hippos were the ideal solution to a major crisis then gripping the united states a severe
shortage of meat in the early 20th century the price of beef began to skyrocket as rangelands
became depleted by overgrazing in the past the solution had simply been to expand further west
but by this time the frontier had long since been closed there simply wasn't anywhere left
to expand to at the same time the mass migration of americans from the countryside into cities
along with massive waves of foreign immigration caused a surge in demand for meat straining the
meat packing industry to its breaking point the only solution and he concluded was to somehow make
productive lands which were unsuitable for cattle ranching and that's where the hippos came in on
september 19th 1910 frederick burnham arrived at the maryland hotel in pasadena and presented his
ideas before the second annual convention of the humane association of california burnham's
imaginative plan was to import thousands of edible african mammals including antelopes and giraffes
and released them onto the plains of the american southwest creating a new and hearty source of
fresh meat for the growing american population but the boldest part of burnham's scheme involved
introducing hippopotamuses into the swamps and bios of the american gulf coast converting what
had once been agriculturally unproductive land into a major source of protein an official from
the u.s department of agriculture had already surveyed the region including in his report that
the buyers are wildly dismal and forbidding the silence strikes one with an almost unforgettable
horror nonetheless hippopotamus would find no difficulty living in louisiana the official
went on to estimate that even a small herd of hippos released into the buyers of louisiana
florida and mississippi would quickly grow to yield nearly a million tons of meat a year
furthermore as hippos were too large and unruly to transport to the stockyards of chicago the scheme
would force the construction of multiple regional slaughterhouses finally breaking that city's
long-held monopoly over the american meat packing industry surprisingly burnham's wild scheme
attracted considerable public and governmental support particularly from louisiana congressman
robert brossard who saw it as an equally elegant solution to another ecological crisis america's
invasion by the water hyacinth plant native to the rivers of south america water hyacinth was
introduced to the united states at the 1884 louisiana world cotton centennial exposition
allegedly in the form of ornamental flowers handed out by the japanese delegation the plant which
grows rapidly into dense floating mats spread like wildfire throughout the american southeast choking
rivers and lakes killing fish and rendering entire waterways unnavigable efforts to curb the spread
using saltwater spray herbicides and even spraying the plants with oil and setting them on fire all
failed miserably but burnham's hippo scheme seemed at last to offer a practical solution in addition
to solving the meat crisis the voracious beasts would also keep the aggressive invasive species in
check effectively killing two birds with one stone burnham also saw the scheme as an opportunity
for the nation to re-evaluate its destructive approach to agriculture and conservation and find
a better way to move forward urging his pasadena audience to quote not make the same mistakes again
this nation has reached a stage in its development where we should take stock of our assets and make
full use of them in an intelligent manner so much of the continent has been left lonely
silent devoid of life in any useful form and the hour of time is at hand when we can make use of it
it is within our power to people it with useful and beautiful animals while some commentators
criticize the notion of hippo ranching as too outlandish and foreign for american tastes
burnham was quick to point out that most common animals eaten by americans cattle pigs goats sheep
and poultry were all originally foreign species imported by european settlers only the passage of
time has made them appear commonplace furthermore plenty of equally exotic animals had already
been imported into the country in 1885 englishman george corson started an ostrich farm in pasadena
and made a fortune selling ostrich feathers for ladies hats and other accessories while in the
1850s secretary of war and future president of the confederacy jefferson davis tried to introduce
african camels to replace cavalry horses in the american southwest the animals proved ideally
suited to the terrain and only ridicule from older cavalrymen prevented the camel core from taking
off the press hardly agreed with burnham with an editorial in the washington post arguing proposals
which first may look odd and crimerical to the mass of our readers will be seen to be matter
of fact propositions when they become familiar if we've learned to swallow raw oysters and suck
the meat out of crabs why can't we also embrace that plump and pulcontigerous beast which has
a smile like an old-fashioned fireplace the new york times extolled the virtues of the so-called
lake cow bacon while lippencott's monthly magazine was almost rapturous in its praise of the scheme
writing of the hippo this animal only as a steamroller is the embodiment of salvation
peace plenty and contentment lie before us and a new life with new experiences new opportunities
new visit new romance folded in that golden future when the meadows and the buyers of our southern
lands shall swarm with herds of hippopotami it's worth pointing out for any pedants in
the audience that being derived from greek the plural of hippopotamus is hippopotamuses and not
hippopotami the same actually goes for octopus so now you know and now back to our story to promote
his scheme burnham formed a lobby group called new food supply society with the help from congressman
broussard the group drafted house resolution h.r 23261 popularly known as the hippo bill which
sought to appropriate 250 000 in congressional funds for the importation of useful animals on
march 24 1910 burnham was invited to present his ideas before the house committee on agriculture
testifying alongside burnham with two men broussard had invited to act as expert witnesses
the first was william newton irvin a fruit expert from the u.s department of agriculture's bureau of
plant industry a classic balthan character irwin had a penchant for championing ideas that were
once eccentric and strangely logical among his pet projects was a crusade to convert americans
from eating chicken eggs to eating turkey eggs which he argued were larger richer more nutritious
and had a longer shelf life owen threw himself behind burnham's hippo scheme with simula gusto
explaining to the house committee i hope to live long enough to see herds of these broad-backed
beasts wallowing in the southern marshes and rivers fattening on the millions of tons of food
which awaits their arrival to see great droves of white rhinoceri roaming over the semi-arid desert
wastes fattening on the spa's herbage which these lands offer to see herds of the delicate giraffe
the flesh of which is the purest and sweetest of any known animal browsing on the buds and
shoots of young trees in preparation for the butcher's block but the third man to testify
that day was by far the oddest a bar from the cape colony in what is now south africa fritz
juber du kane was in many ways frederick burnham's mirror image a fellow larger-than-life soldier
spy big game hunter and adventurer whom burnham once called the human epitome of sin and deception
when in 1900 the british army in south africa adopted a policy of scorched earth burning down
bar farms and herding their occupants into concentration camps decaying developed a fanatical
hatred for the british and vowed to kill as many occupying troops as possible to this end he became
a scout spy and saboteur for the burr republics acquiring the certifiably badass but copyright
infringing nickname of black panther he and his opposite number frederick burnham soon developed
a mutual admiration and fierce rivalry and at one point were actually assigned to kill one another
for the moment however the two men were united in their curious crusade to introduce the hippo
to north america fritz duquesne's involvement in the hearings was thanks to another of burmann's
fervent supporters former u.s president and ardent conservationist theodore roosevelt in
1909 with his presidential turn coming to an end roosevelt began planning an epic big game hunting
trip in east africa and assembled a collection of experts to advise him on details such as stalking
techniques and which firearms to bring along among these advisors was duquesne who impressed
roosevelt with his intimate knowledge of african wildlife decaying brought this same expertise to
bear in the march 1910 hearings explaining to the committee members how easy it was to domesticate a
hippo and how a young one could be fed milk from a bottle like a baby and led around on a leash
like a pudgy hound hippos he assured them were not at all dangerous and produced delicious and
nutritious meat on which his people had sustained themselves for generations the committee seemed
impressed but as it was too late to introduce the hippo bill for that year's session of congress
broussard decided to wait until the following spring in the meantime burnham would sail
on a fact-finding expedition to africa to choose the best species for importation and
sort out the logistics of the massive transport operation but burnham never returned to africa
the mexican revolution had just broken out and his business partners called him away to help protect
their investments along the yaki river meanwhile the 1911 congressional session came and went and
while the new food supply society held out hope that the hippo bill would soon be passed robert
broussard dithered waiting for the ideal moment to introduce the bill to congress then in 1915
broussard left congress for the senate serving for three years before dying in april 1918. by
this time the united states entry into the first world war had dramatically shifted the nation's
priorities and the hippo bill died a quiet ignoble death having never been debated by congress this
was probably for the best for as anyone who knows anything about african animals can tell
you hippos are most definitely not the harmless docile creatures described in fritz duquesne's
congressional testimony notoriously territorial and aggressive hippos kill anywhere between
500 and 3000 people in africa every year more than any other animal except the mosquito ranching
them for food would thus have been a highly dangerous proposition furthermore the animals
would most likely have been useless against the secondary problem they were intended to solve the
invasive water hyacinth in the wild hippos dine almost exclusively on vocia cuspadata or
hippograss completely ignoring the abundant water hyacinth which has also taken over many regions of
southern africa thus had burnham's fanciful scheme actually come to fruition the buyers
of louisiana would have gained nothing more than another aggressive invasive species that decayne
got these simple facts absurdly wrong should come as no surprise for apart from anything else fritz
de kane was an inveterate liar fraud and con artist spinning outlandish yarns and constantly
reinventing himself to suit its own interests during the first world war duquesne left america
to become a spy and saboteur for imperial germany later claiming responsibility for the death of
british secretary of state for war lord herbert kitchener according to decayne in june 1916 he
snuck aboard the cruiser hms hampshire which was transporting kitchener to a meeting in russia
and signaled to a german u-boat which proceeded to torpedo the ship however this story is likely a
complete fabrication as hms hampshire is known now to have struck a mine in 1917 duquesne returned to
america only to find himself dropped from the lecture circuit as public interest in tales
of african safaris evaporated he thus reinvented himself as an australian war hero captain claude
strawton and toured the country selling war bonds and regaling audiences with dales of his fictional
wartime exploits in november of that year he was arrested in new york and charged with espionage
arson and murder on the high seas while awaiting to be extradited to britain duquesne feigned
paralysis and was transferred to the prison ward of new york's bellevue hospital where on the
25th of may 1919 he succeeded in cutting through the bars of his cell and climbing over the wall
to freedom but the wily black panther wasn't finished yet on june 28 1941 duquesne and 32
other spies were arrested on charges of funneling information on american weaponry to nazi germany
the so-called duquesne spy ring was the largest espionage case in u.s history and resulted in
duquesne and his conspirators being sentenced to a total of 300 years in prison fritz de kane
served 14 before being released due to ill health in 1954. he died on may 24 1956 at the age of 78.
returning to our story you may have noticed that there are in fact no hippopotamuses wading through
the buyers of louisiana and that hippo steaks and burgers are not staples of the american diet so
how when did america finally manage to solve the meat shortage that inspired frederick burnham's
outlandish scheme in the first place the solution turned out to be a rather mundane one rather than
diversify the types of animals eat an american farmer simply converted previously unproductive
land like swamps and bios into grazing pasture and found ways of packing that land with greater
and greater numbers of livestock this eventually developed into the industrial farming methods
of today which while incredibly productive are responsible for all sorts of environmental ills
from waste runoff and algae blooms to antibiotic resistant bacteria and even 140 years after its
introduction water hyacinth continues to plague american waterways with the state of louisiana
alone spending 2 million per year to keep the invasive plant under control so perhaps a
biofuel of aggressive hippos would not have been the worst outcome after all but while the 1910
hippo scheme might seem like a bonkers proposition for us today it does offer a fascinating glimpse
into the optimism and can-do attitude that characterized early 20th century america
as author john muellem writes in his 2013 article american hippopotamus there is something beautiful
about the america that considered importing them an america so intent on facing down its problems
and solving them that even an idea like this could get a fair hearing where the political system
and the culture felt so alive with possibility and so confident in its own virtue and ingenuity that
elected officials could sit around and contemplate the merits of hippo-ranching without worrying too
much about how it sounded where people felt free and bold enough to imagine putting hippopotamuses
in places where there were no hippopotamuses so if you found this video interesting if you did
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you