The comprehensive plan for the management of hippos and the protection of ecosystems in Magdalena Medio Antioquia began. 10 of these African mammals will be translocated to Mexico and 60 more to India.
To the Ostok Sanctuary, in Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico, ten of the hippos will be transferred or translocated (Hippopotamus amphibius) that today coexist in the ecosystem of Magdalena Medio, Antioquia.
This is a translocation agreement signed by the Government of Antioquia with the Ostock Sanctuary, which today seems to be a good option to solve the crisis generated by this species in the Doradal corregimiento, in the Puerto Triunfo municipality.
And it is that the hippos of the Magdalena Medio Antioquia represent a crisis of control and management of this species recently declared as an invader in Colombia, by the Ministry of the Environment.
The governor of Antioquia, Aníbal Gaviria Correa, reported that a total of 70 hippos will be transferred from Magdalena Medio to India and Mexico in approximately two months (60 hippos to India and 10 to Mexico).
“This would reduce the number of individuals (hippos) in the department,” said the governor.
Likewise, the transfer of these hippos will contribute to the conservation processes that are being carried out in the Hacienda Nápoles Theme Park, promoted by Corantioquia and Cornare. The government of Antioquia, from the Animal Protection and Welfare Management, has also been working jointly, for a year and a half, with different institutions to define routes that allow the translocation of hippos.
What is the problem with the hippos of the Magdalena Medio?
It is estimated that between 80 and 100 hippos currently live in the Magdalena Medio region of Antioquia.
In the 1980s, these hippos arrived in the Antioquia subregion. According to the stories, a group of these animals were commissioned by the late drug trafficker Pablo Escobar, coming from the African saba.
In the last 30 years, these hippos have had a high reproduction and became a problem by occupying fishing areas on the banks of the Magdalena River. Sightings of hippos have been documented not only in Antioquia, but also in the departments of Boyacá and Caldas.
Hippos are mammals that can weigh up to three tons and live up to 60 years.
According to information from the Forest and Biodiversity Group of the Regional Autonomous Corporation of the Negro and Nare River Basins (Cornare), the Magdalena Medio region of Antioquia enjoys regularly stable tropical conditions throughout the year. Therefore, it constitutes a more than adequate habitat for hippos, because there these individuals do not have to face periods of drought, as is the case in Africa.
So, because it is an invasive species with very good adaptability characteristics, the hippos found in the Magdalena Medio an ideal place to reproduce freely. In contrast, and as it is an aggressive and large species, the species has enjoyed great acceptance by the inhabitants of this region.
Translocation of Magdalena Medio hippos
This week, an agreement was signed that seeks control over the management of this species. According to the governor of Antioquia, Aníbal Gaviria Correa, they will undertake, in conjunction with the Ostock Sanctuary, the search for resources to build crates and cover the air transport of the hippos to Mexico and, later, to India.
“This would significantly reduce the number of individuals in the department, facilitating containment strategies,” explained the president.
“Here we are in the quest to save the lives of the hippos, but also to protect the lives of the people in Magdalena Medio. We cannot fail to recognize that the presence and future disorderly increase of hippos is a risk to the tranquility and lives of the people of that sub-region,” said the governor.
Cornare, the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, international partners Ostok Sanctuary and RPM Content RPM Content, the Colombian Agricultural Institute, the Antioquia Departmental Assembly and the Colombian Air Force are part of the pact.
The process of translocation of these animals only lacks a procedure that could be called “hippo passport”, which will be issued by the Ministry of the Environment and which is expected for the first semester of this year.
Finally, it was learned that there is the manifest will of five countries to host a significant number of hippopotamus individuals in sanctuaries suitable for their stay: the first, Mexico and India, and Ecuador, the Philippines and Botswana have also declared themselves.