House Resolution 23261, also known as the "American Hippo bill", was a bill introduced by Representative Robert F. Broussard of Louisiana in 1910 to authorize the importation and release of hippopotamus into the bayous of the state. [1] [2]
Broussard argued the hippos would eat the invasive water hyacinth that was clogging the rivers and also produce meat to help solve the American meat predicament. [2] [3] The chief collaborators and proponents of Broussard's bill were Major Frederick Russell Burnham and Captain Fritz Duquesne. [4] [5] 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 hippo meat as "lake cow bacon". [6] [4] Although the "American Hippo Bill" developed a broad base of support, it was never passed by the US Congress. [2]
Author Sarah Gailey's River of Teeth series depicts an alternate history United States in which the American Hippo bill was passed. [7]