Dozens of “cocaine hippos” bred in the private zoo of the late drug lord Escobar will be flown to India and Mexico to help with population control.
CNN reports that the Colombian government estimates 130 and 160 hippos in total. Most of them are far from Escobar’s Naples ranch, where there were originally only four hippos (one male and three females).
Hippos were first spotted at a ranch about 250 kilometers from Medellin in the 1980s when they were part of Escobar’s collection of rare animals. In the wake of his death in 1993, authorities moved most of the ranch’s animals, except for the hippos, due to transportation challenges.
But since then, authorities say, the hippo population has exploded, creating a new environmental threat and causing concern among locals along the Magdalena River basin.
According to a study published in Nature, the number of these hippos could increase to 1,500 within 20 years.
Castration and “injectable” contraceptives were previously used by authorities to limit their population growth. However, the effectiveness of contraceptives has been modest.
The governor of Antioquia, the state of Naples, Gaviria, announced on Twitter that 70 hippos would be moved to sanctuaries in India and Mexico.
They say 60 male and female hippos will go to India and 10 to Mexico.
According to Governor Gaviria, who spoke with CBS Blu Radio, the operation is called “translocation” because it involves relocating hippos from one country to another that is not their natural habitat.
The point, he explained, is to relocate the animals to nations with the resources to provide adequate care for them and limit their numbers.
Gaviria has declared that it is “not allowed” to return hippos to their home continent of Africa.
Sending back to Africa does more harm than good
Before, Echeverri, a biology professor at Javeriana University, had told CNN that reintroducing hippos to Africa might harm the animals and the environment there.
Each time we relocate a herd of animals or a field of crops, we also spread the bacteria and viruses that infected them “Quote from Echeverri. We may be introducing diseases that haven’t evolved in Africa’s ecosystems, which could have dire consequences for wild hippos and the entire continent.”
Gaviria stated on the radio that the hippos would be transported in specialized crates and would initially not be sedated. However, “emergency sedation” is an option if one of the hippos becomes anxious during the flight.
If the necessary permits, especially from the Colombian Agricultural Institute, can be obtained quickly, the move, he said, could be finished in the first half of this year.
