Botswana pumps water into drying channels to aid stranded hippos

Hippos are stuck in a dried-up channel near the Nxaraga village in the Okavango Delta on the outskirts of Maun, Botswana, April 25, 2024. [AFP]

Herds of endangered hippos are stuck in drying ponds in Botswana's northwest as the El Nino-induced drought takes its toll on wildlife.

In Botswana, home to one of the world's largest hippopotamus populations, around 500 hippos are stranded as blistering heat dries up water sources, Moemedi Batshabang, director of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks, told VOA.