Hippopotamus in Napoles Park, Hacienda, Colombia▶ Click here for a larger view
Colombia is struggling to deal with the’Drug King’s Hippopotamus’, which has grown in number.
On the 8th (local time), Colombia’s local environmental authority’CORNARE’ said, “We met with the Ministry of Environment to find a solution to the hippopotamus problem in the Magdalena River.” I asked for support from the embassy in the country.”
CONARE, which has jurisdiction over the hippopotamus problem, added that chemical castration is currently the “most viable alternative” under consideration to control hippopotamus populations.
These hippos, also known as’cocaine hippos’, came to Colombia in the 1980s.
Colombia’s notorious “Drug King” Pablo Escobar built a private zoo in the private property “Acienda Napoles” and brought in exotic animals such as elephants and giraffes.
After his death in 1993, the animals were moved to other places or died, but three female hippos and one male from the US zoo were left in the wild.
Hippos breed rapidly in the banks of the Magdalena River, rich in water and prey and without natural enemies. Currently, it is estimated that there are 65 to 80 hippos. It has doubled in eight years.
The hippopotamus, which cannot be seen in the wild in South America, has become a specialty and tourism product of Hacienda Napoles, which has been transformed into a theme park, but the adverse effect on the local ecosystem and people is not easy.
Colombian’watch out for hippos’ signs▶ Click here for a larger view
In May of last year, a man in his 40s was attacked by a hippopotamus and was seriously injured, threatening humans and damaging livestock. Research has also shown that it changes the quality of nearby water.
Researchers from Colombia and Mexico predicted that the number of hippos could grow to 1,400 by 2034 if the trend goes along in a paper published last month in the international journal’Bioconservation’.
The researchers suggested that the hippopotamus could live in large quantities in northern Colombia due to climate change, and that active measures, such as killing, are needed to avoid long-term negative effects.
However, the killing of hippos, who have become unofficial mascots of the region and are not endangered worldwide, is quite controversial. Animal groups and others have been fiercely opposed over the killing of a hippopotamus that invaded the farmhouse in 2009.
The neuterization procedure is also in progress, but the Associated Press explained that finding the reproductive organs after attracting and anesthetizing a large hippopotamus and incising the thick skin is not easy and expensive.
As an alternative, the authorities are seeking to secure US-made chemicals used in pigs and other products to promote chemical castration.
In a press release the previous day, CONARE said in a press release the previous day that it expects to begin chemical castration by the end of this year, and requested support from related agencies.
[연합뉴스]
Copyrights ⓒ Yonhap News. Unauthorized reproduction and redistribution prohibited