Herds of endangered hippos trapped in mud in drought-hit Botswana

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00:00 "Dozens of hippos trapped in a pool of mud.

00:05 Just a few months ago, this river was flowing freely.

00:08 Today, it's completely dried out and its wildlife has nowhere to flee to."

00:13 "We're experiencing a severe drought in our village.

00:16 This pond had water, but it's completely dried up.

00:20 Our animals get stuck in this muddy pond every day when they try to drink the water.

00:24 There's absolutely no water as you can see, even the hippos are stuck."

00:28 Induced by the El Nino weather pattern, which should last until May, this is one of the

00:33 region's worst droughts in four decades.

00:36 Since January 2024, extreme climate shocks have killed more than 130 people and destroyed

00:41 over 2 million hectares of crops across southern Africa.

00:44 "The river has gone dry.

00:46 We are currently not getting any clients as we used to.

00:50 The fishing industry has gone down.

00:53 Trees are slowly dying.

00:55 It's not even lush green as we used to experience.

01:00 Our canoes have run dry and people are actually suffering."

01:05 In Botswana, thousands of people have been forced to flee to the north of the country,

01:09 close to the Wetu National Parks.

01:12 "We've moved temporarily because of the drought.

01:16 We've lost most of our livestock, especially the younger calves.

01:20 Since we've moved here, the situation has gotten better.

01:22 Our animals are better.

01:23 I hope we'll survive the drought."

01:25 24 million people in southern Africa are now facing what the UN calls acute hunger.

01:33 And water scarcity has also aggravated the cholera outbreak in the region, which has

01:37 killed over 4,000 people since the start of 2023.

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