Hippos came to Colombia from Pablo Escobar, who introduced a pair from Africa to his personal zoo Photo: Emelyne/Pixabay (illustrative image)
Colombia will euthanize some of former cocaine baron Pablo Escobar’s 166 hippos that are breeding uncontrollably, Colombia’s environment minister said on Thursday (2), as she began the government’s plan to curb the reproduction of these animals.
According to Susana Muhamad, the killing of mammals growing in the Magdalena River will be one of the three measures taken by the authorities to prevent damage from this invasive species, as well as sterilization and shipping to other countries.
“The first phase of this management plan has begun, which will include the sterilization phase of hippos in Colombia next week,” he told a news conference. The minister assumes there will be at least 20 this year.
Without revealing the number, Muhamad added that they will use euthanasia “on a portion of the population,” although he did not specify when that process would begin.
Others are being sent to Mexico, India and the Philippines, which have shown themselves open to accepting some species. The government is still working on the necessary approvals for the transfers.
Hippos came to Colombia purely on the whim of Pablo Escobar, who introduced a pair from Africa to his personal zoo at Fazenda Nápoles in the Magdalena Medio (NorthCentral) region.
After the death of the world’s largest drug trafficker at the time by police in 1993 and the authorities’ intervention on his property, the mammals were helpless and began to multiply. Some attacked fishermen on the country’s most important river.
There are currently a record number of 166 hippos and, according to Environment Ministry calculations, there could be 1,000 by 2035 if their reproduction is not stopped. (AFP)
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