Why are there hippos in Colombian jungles? in the late 1970s, Medellin Cartel boss Pablo Escobar acquired four hippos, He is supposedly from Africa or the United States to accompany the elephants, giraffes and antelopes he already has in his private zoo on his farm in western Colombia. When Escobar surrendered to the authorities in 1991, the government confiscated the land (Hacienda Nápoles) and allowed the animals to roam freely. Today has become an invasive species that threatens local ecosystemsno one knows how to fix this situation.
In the 30 years since then, the original hippos, three females and one male, spawned more than 130. It is a species not native to South America. These animals, without natural predators, settled in the Magdalena River in central Colombia.
Authorities are now trying to drive some 70 of Pablo Escobar’s famous hippos out of the country, whose populations continue to wreak havoc on the local ecosystem., according to CBS News. Animals are difficult to catch, and initially the government thought they would die for them in an unknown and alien habitat.
Instead, conditions turned out to be perfect for these highly territorial animals, and thirty years later, A population of 130 specimens circulates in Colombia and is considered one of the main invasive species in the world.
Ecological damage to local rivers
The government and scientists have been debating what to do with them for years. Conservationists are concerned about this ecological damage to the Magdalena river basin in Colombia, and last year the Colombian government officially declared them an invasive species.
National authorities decided to adopt it in 2009. the hardest solution: kill them, but this raised a wave of protest and the plan never materialized. Colombian lawyer Luis Domingo Gómez Maldonado filed a lawsuit in 2020 to prevent these hippos from being euthanized on behalf of their defenders, and recommended spaying instead. Colombian leaders agreed and a plan was developed to use it. chemical contraceptives sterilizing part of the main population, but in reality not very successful.
To date, 13 hippos have been neutered. and five were moved to local zoos.
“Do we see these numbers as a success?” reflects David Echeverri of the regional environmental agency Cornare in his statements to the Infobae portal. “Well, capturing and neutering them is so complex, so dangerous and taking so long that the answer has to be yes. But it’s not an effective measure,” he said.
Female hippos can give birth to a calf every two years. The population reproduces faster than neutered individuals.
In the last two years, Cornare has added another approach: GonaCon, the chemical birth control pill supplied by the US government. It is applied with a dart rifle in both men and women.
Last year, They applied it to 38 hippos but they have no idea which ones.
“Following them is a daunting task”Echever said. Cornare tried to mark them with paint, satellite markers, and collars, but the hippos somehow managed to shake them off. The agency plans to fill the darts with tattoo ink this year.
Now the government has decided to resort to another way: transport hippos to India and Mexico to control their growing populations. The animals will be placed in natural shelters and zoos where they can live without harming ecosystems as invasive species.
Sending hippos abroad is going to be expensive, if anything. Authorities will charter cargo planes from Belarusian company Rada Airlines that can carry between 20 and 30 hippos on each flight. A flight to Mexico can cost $400,000; To India, it will be $900,000.
This is undoubtedly a shameful legacy that still has not been satisfactorily resolved decades later.
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Contact details of the environment department: [email protected]