Meat Madness: How American Farmers Almost Became Hippo Ranchers
By Chris Bennett
Farm Journal
Noah’s Ark crashed into American agriculture—almost. In what ranks among the wildest plans ever hatched by the federal government, hippos were once on the cusp of introduction to U.S. rivers, lakes, and farmland. Simply, hippopotamus farming almost became a reality.
In 1910, fighting an invasive species plague and meat crisis, a congressman and a USDA official teamed up with a solution for the ages: Import hippos from Africa, along with a menagerie of other large mammals, and loose the beasts across the country.