Today I Learned: Hippos were almost released to Louisiana bayous

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In the U.S., Representative Robert F. Broussard of Louisiana introduced the "American Hippo bill" in 1910 to authorize the importation and release of hippopotamus into the bayous of Louisiana.[81][82] Broussard argued that the hippopotamus would eat the invasive water hyacinth that was clogging the rivers and also produce meat to help solve the American meat crisis.[82][83] The chief collaborators and proponents of Broussard's bill were Major Frederick Russell Burnham and Captain Fritz Duquesne[84][85] Former President Theodore Roosevelt backed the plan, as did the U.S. Department of Agriculture, The Washington Post, and The New York Times which praised the taste of hippopotamus as "lake cow bacon".[84] The "American Hippo Bill" fell just short of being passed.[82]

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