1.02.2010

Hungry Hungry Hippo

This illo is from a recent Virginia Living, the story of Bongo, an African hippo who lived at the National Zoo in Washington until his death at age 49 in 1959. His body was donated to science, and that's how the preposterous collection of items in the animal's stomach came to be discovered: hardware, including nuts, bolts, screws, wire and valve caps; ammo, such as shell casings and a 25-caliber bullet; and a pocketbook’s worth of everyday items, a billfold, a tube of lipstick, keys, streetcar tokens and $2.50 in coins. All thrown into Bongo's open mouth by cruel, careless zoo patrons. Oh, the humanity.