Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo – The poisoning of the Anthrax killed around 50 hippopotams in Virunga, the oldest national park in Africa, which is located in the Democratic Republic of Congo, East, the chief of the park told AFP on Tuesday. The toxin is caused by a bacteria forming spores, Bacillus Anthracis, which survives for decades in the soil where the dead animals of anthrax or were carriers were buried. It is transmitted for humans and potentially fatal in its inhaled form.
The hippopotams were found floating in a river south of Lake Edward, which separates DRC from Uganda, said Director of Park Emmanuel de Merode.
The local office of the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation (ICCN) in the northern province of Kivu, where the dead hippopotams have been found, precautionary measures have recommended an obviousness to eat boxwood.
Virunga National Park / Handout / Reuters 
“Although this disease mainly affects wildlife, it presents a potential risk of transmission for humans as well as pets,” said the body, which manages national parks in the DRC.
Virunga National Park was created in 1925 and is renowned for its fauna, especially mountain gorillas and magnificent landscapes.
But it has been located in the heart of the conflicts that have torn the DRC East for 30 years.
Last week, Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi commissioned the death sentences of three Americans who had been convicted of having participated in an attempted coup d’etat botched in 2024. The forgiveness came when the Congolese authorities hope to conclude a mineral agreement with the United States in exchange for security support which could help the DRC to fight the M23 rebels supported by Rwandans in the east affected by the conflict of the country.
Hippopotams and other mammals have already He is the victim of the anthrax Several times in Virunga and other natural reserves in Africa.
Brent Stirton / Getty for WWF-Canon 
According to the Virunga website, the park housed the largest population of racetrack in the world in the 1970s, with around 29,000 animals, but “since then, instability in the region has led to an increase in poaching and a 95% drop in population size”.
The World Wildlife Fund lists hippopotams as a vulnerable species, with around 115,000 to 130,000 people who would live in the world in the world.
