Generating Medicine and Income from Hippo Oil- Sunscreen Lotion

This "million shilling" idea first came to mind approximately 10 years ago while driving for several hours  along the Rufigi River in Tanzania. The safari guide books always have much interesting scientific information  to help answer most questions that can arise while on safari. "Why do hippos stay in the water so much? Do they really have sensitive skin? What makes them that pinkish red color?" According to the guide book, hippos secrete an oil that protects them from harmful solar rays and allows them to soak in the water.

So I think to myself, wouldn't it be great to 'farm' hippos and somehow collect/harvet some if this oil and then bottle it as the world's best suntan lotion? Well of course, this is not very practical but upon returning to the US in 2003, I learned of the preliminary research going on in Japan that was investigating the mportant chemical compounds in the oil that could serve a medical purpose.

Here is a link to the final research article that provides an overview of where Hippo Oil if headed:

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jp809138s?prevSearch=hippopotamus&se...