The descendants of four hippopotamuses smuggled out of Africa by Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar in the 1980s are now causing problems for Colombia. About 70 hippopotamuses may be moved to India and Mexico to control their growing population. According to an AP report, these hippos, which are very territorial and can weigh up to 3 tons, have reproduced and spread beyond the Hacienda Napoles farm and could reach a population of 400 in eight years.
Why do they need to move?
Scientists have warned that they are a potential threat to biodiversity and that their feces could affect the habitat of other animals in local rivers, the AP reported. Scientists warned that they do not have a natural predator in Colombia and are therefore a threat to other animals.
The plan to relocate the hippos has been in the works for more than a year, and they would be herded into large containers of food and then transferred by truck to an airport in Rionegro, where they would be taken to sanctuaries and zoos in India Will go and Mexico. Sixty hippos will go to Greens Zoological Rescue and Rehabilitation Kingdom in Gujarat, India, and 10 will be sent to sanctuaries and zoos in Mexico.
Hippo may be sent to Greens Zoological Rescue and Rehabilitation Kingdom in Gujarat
This relocation would help control the hippo population and is considered more humane than destroying them as an “invasive” species. The rehabilitation plan focuses on the hippos living in the rivers surrounding the Hacienda Napoles ranch, not those living inside the ranch. Other countries, including Ecuador, the Philippines and Botswana, have also expressed interest in relocating Colombian hippos.
David Echeverri Lopez, a spokesman for Cornare, the local environmental authority that will be in charge of the relocation, told the AP, “It is possible to do, we already have experience relocating hippos to zoos around the country.”