2023-11-03 06:00:00
Colombia will apply the euthanasia to some of the 166 hippos of the historic cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar that reproduce without control. Several of the animals, considered a “pest” in the South American country, will be sterilized.
According to the Minister of the Environment of Colombia, Susana Muhamad, who announced the beginning of the government’s plan to stop the expansion of animals, the elimination of mammals that grow in the Magdalena river will be one of the three measures of the authorities to prevent the damage caused by this invasive species, along with sterilization and transfer to other countries.
“The first stage of this management plan begins, which next week will show the hippopotamus sterilization phase in Colombia“she said in a press conference. The minister hopes that they will be at least 20 this yearthe agency stated AFP.
Colombia declared Pablo Escobar’s hippos an “invasive species”
Without detailing the number, Muhamad added that “a part of the population” will be euthanizedalthough he did not specify when that process will begin.
Others will be sent to Mexico, India or the Philippines, who were open to receiving copies. The government is still processing the necessary permits for the transfers.
Pablo Escobar and his personal zoo that continues to bring problems to Colombia
Los Hippos arrived in Colombia on the whim of Pablo Escobarwhich introduced a couple from Africa in their personal zoo at Hacienda Nápolesin the Magdalena Medio region (central-north).
After the death of the then largest drug trafficker in the world, at the hands of the police in 1993, and the official intervention of his properties, the mammals were left helpless and began to reproduce. some have fishermen attacked in the most important river in the country.
Narcozoologists, the fashion of the power of cocaine in Ecuador in the style of Pablo Escobar
Currently there are a record number of 166 hippos and according to calculations by the Ministry of the Environment by 2035 there could be 1,000 if its expansion is not stopped.
In recent years, the Cornare environmental corporation carried out a twenty sterilizationsfaced with what to do with the herd, the largest outside the African continent. Environmentalists point out that this procedure causes suffering to the animal and endangers risk the lives of veterinarians.
David Echeverri, representative of that organization who will be in charge of the surgeries, acknowledged that one of the risks are death or allergic reaction to anesthesia.
The government of Gustavo Petro has been emphatic that hippos cause a serious environmental damage and will spend around $10,000 for each sterilization.
“They are very territorial animals” and “with very high aggressiveness“That “for their food they affect the entire ecosystem,” Muhamad stressed.
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