The hippopotamus is arguably one of the great physical comedians of the animal world. With its roly-poly body, Shrek-like ears and squat nostrils smushed into a giant snout, it's easy to forget that the absurd-looking creatures are actually quite dangerous to humans. According to the BBC in 2016, hippopotamuses killed an average of 500 people each year in Africa — far more than lions, which tend to inspire far more fear. Theodore Roosevelt himself understood this, and as such was understandably pleased when he managed to kill eight hippos during his famous 1909-1910 safari.
Yet around the same time that Roosevelt was traipsing through Africa and slaughtering these rotund mammals, other Americans were planning on bringing hippopotamuses to their own country.
