Colombia’s rogue hippos might discover refuge in India

DORADAL, Colombia—In a small city in central Colombia, the grunt of hippos has develop into a part of the soundscape. Each afternoon in Doradal, locals and vacationers hang around at a lake on the sting of city. They chat and drink beers as they watch the enormous beasts floating on the water.

“This is one of the main attractions in town,” says Lina Morales, a neighborhood resort employee.

The hippos are the descendants of 4 animals introduced illegally to Colombia within the 1980’s by Pablo Escobar. The infamous drug lord owned a personal zoo on a ranch close to Doradal, the place he additionally had elephants, giraffes, and zebras.

However nobody captured the hippos after the Colombian authorities seized Escobar’s properties in 1993.

And due to the shortage of pure predators, their inhabitants exploded. Scientists estimate there are actually 200 hippos roaming freely round Doradal—a city surrounded by lush forests and large rivers.

Some say the time has come to cull them. Biologist Nataly Castelblanco-Martinez explains that the hippos deposit giant quantities of waste in lakes and riverbeds, which might result in drastic modifications in water chemistry.

“Including changes in the pH and also less oxygen. So, then all the plants that need oxygen in the water are going to collapse because of this,” Castelblanco-Martinez says.

With fewer underwater vegetation, the native meals chain suffers. “The hippos have a transversal impact on the ecosystem,” Castelblanco-Martinez provides.

In mid-April, Colombia’s authorities introduced a plan to regulate the nation’s hippo inhabitants, together with culling as much as 80 animals this yr.

In Doradal, the hippos have develop into a vacationer attraction—statues of the animals are displayed all through the city.

A stack of three hippo statues stands at Hacienda Nápoles Park, as soon as the non-public property of drug kingpin Pablo Escobar, in Puerto Triunfo, Colombia.

Fernando Vergara/AP

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Fernando Vergara/AP

“They are part of our community now,” says enterprise proprietor Tania Galindo. “There’s no other place outside of Africa with wild hippos.”

Some locals now take guests on hippo safaris, whereas others promote keyrings, T-shirts, and different souvenirs that includes the semi-aquatic mammals. “Their population should be controlled,” Galindo says. “But in a peaceful manner that respects their life, and the appreciation we have for them.”

Colombia initially tried to curb the hippo inhabitants by means of sterilization—first with surgical procedures, then contraceptive injections. However biologist Castelblanco-Martinez says the procedures are pricey and dangerous, making large-scale sterilization troublesome. She says culling is the best resolution.

“And we do it with lionfish, you see it with camels in Australia,” she says.

Now, Colombia’s hippos could have been thrown a lifeline. Indian billionaire Anant Ambani has supplied to relocate 80 hippos to his Vantara wildlife reserve in Gujarat, India.

“It would be a major undertaking for sure,” says Sergio Estrada, a biology professor at Bogotá’s Rosario College. He’s skeptical of the billionaire’s proposal.

Locals calm down as they watch hippos floating in a lake close to Doradal, Colombia, April 23

Manue Rueda/NPR

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Manue Rueda/NPR

“Depending on where they are, when they lure them and catch them, they would have to drive them in huge trucks and lorries to the Rio Negro airport near Medellin. And that is about 150 km. So that, in itself, is no easy task,” he says.

Then the hippos must be placed on planes to India—a protracted flight that requires a stopover. “And so, imagine what you would need to do to keep these animals safe and relaxed during this trip?” Estrada provides.

There are additionally questions on how these wild animals would fare in Ambani’s reserve.
“I don’t see these animals living and roaming freely in this area, in this location in India,” Estrada says.

Colombia’s Surroundings Ministry warns that if drastic measures are usually not taken, the hippo inhabitants might double over the subsequent 5 years. Which may lure extra hippo lovers to Doradal—however it additionally leaves Colombian officers with troublesome decisions about learn how to handle a rising and unpredictable inhabitants.