Imagine walking into a wealthy home in the early 1900s and seeing a hippo lounging in the garden. Sounds bizarre, right?
But for a brief moment in history, owning exotic animals—including hippos—was a strange sign of status among the rich. This trend peaked in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when explorers brought back wild animals as pets.
Celebrities like Pablo Escobar even had private hippo collections! But owning a hippo is a dangerous game. They’re one of the deadliest animals on Earth and are nearly impossible to domesticate.
Most pet hippos either escaped, wreaked havoc, or had to be relocated. So, next time you see a cute baby hippo online, just remember—some people actually tried (and failed) to keep them as pets!
