We are wrong to anthropomorphize, but we do: he has lost something he had
The ranger’s account is comforting because we understand it: imagine a hippo bull, irritated and drying out in the baked earth that was once his wallow. His investments, so to speak, have gone sour.
People used this reasoning to defend Vincent, of course. He felt trapped, some said, invoking his animal nature. Others said one should never stand between a hippo and the water, though Swatton had no water in his garden. But the explanations in St. Lucia eventually ran dry; Vincent was finally put down because he was designated – by the head of Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife – a “problem animal.” He had lost his fear of humans. Continue reading “There is cause and effect (which is every migraineur, control freak, scientist, and mystery lover’s dream)”