[Taxacom] Cannibalistic offal (in nature); is such offal awful?

[Kenneth Kinman]

Hi Robin,
       The hippos being eaten were already dead, and the intestines
(being chewed on by other hippos) had apparently been expelled from
their abdomen by gases in their bloated bodies.   And hippos apparently
aren't just scavengers, since Joseph Dudley saw a hippo kill an impala
that was crossing a river, feasted on the impala, and then other hippos
also fed upon the carcass.  Dudley believes carnivory in hippos is
usually not seen because they are more active at night.  
      National Geographic apparently did a program on the 2004
hippo-anthrax story entitled "Cannibal Hippos".  I doubt that it has any
footage of hippos cannibalizing their own.  However, I read that someone
has filmed some hippos in Malawi in the act of cannibalism.   
      Anyway, here is a weblink to one description of the "Cannibal
Hippos" program which refers to the hippos chewing on the intestines of
dead hippos in Uganda:

http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/tvradio/TV-Preview-Nature-Shock-Cannibal-Hippos-8211-8pm/article-1432767-detail/article.html 

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