According to a new study by researchers from Mexican and Columbian universities, Hippopotamus has been brought to Colombia as part of its ancient zoo in Escobar, part of Hacinda Naples, so they have serious concerns about their environmental impact and human safety.
Hippos are spread from their native home about 100 miles east of the city of Madeleine in the Anticquia section, with the population growing steadily around the banks of the Magdalen River.
The authors of the study, published in the January issue of the Journal of Biological Conservation, recommend that hippos be blamed for preventing long-term negative effects, but other animal scientists are calling for a castration program to control the hippo population, citing animal concerns. Welfare and connection of some locals with their new neighbors.
In the 1980s, Escobar imported one male and three female hippos to join his management. After their deaths, other species of exotic animals migrated, but hippos were abandoned because they were difficult to catch and transport, the study said.
Hippos soon began to spread to the surrounding area, but government efforts to stop them stalled after the proclamation.
A vasectomy campaign was launched instead, but little has been done to slow down the progress of the hippos.
From 2011 to 2019, four males were cast and two females were sterilized, but this “does not appear to have a significant effect on fertility,” the study said.
Researchers say there are probably more than 80.0 hippos in the area, up from 35 in 2016, and they worry that hippos could spread to Colombia if action is not taken.
The research cites research showing the negative effects of hippo waste on oxygen levels in the body of water, which could affect fish and ultimately humans, and concerns about the possible transmission of diseases from hippos to humans.
Hippos also pose a threat to the livelihoods and safety of people in affected areas, the study said, involving eating or damaging crops and engaging in aggressive interactions with humans.
Researchers cited incidents of people chasing hippos, as well as a hippo attack in May 2020 in which a 45-year-old man was seriously injured.
But while study authors have recommended rest, Enrique Zerda Ordez, a biologist at Columbia National University, believes castration programs are the way forward.
Zirda said catching hippos would be an “easy option”, but it could affect the survival of endangered species in Africa.
However, sterilizing hippos is not an easy task, he said, adding that he believes it is possible and necessary to do so now, before their numbers increase further, the university said in a press release.
“Right now, officials don’t consider the species a problem,” Zarda said, “but in the future, when there are 400-500 hippos, it could represent a threat to the survival of other species that feed. Similar areas.”
The head of forests and biodiversity at the CORNARE Regional Environment Agency, David Achevery Lopez, told CNN that the situation is fragile.
“The option to hit them has always been on the table,” he said. “However it is very difficult to imagine that this could happen at the moment.”
The hippos are an invasive species while capable of completely changing local ecosystems, people in the area have used them, Acheverry said. They have become a tourist attraction that people feel a little affection for, he added.
Some hippos will have to be killed, as it is “practically impossible” to find and transplant or sterilize them.
“But there are also some other animals that are located in some areas, ponds and places, assuming adequate resources are available, to put birth control plans in place,” said Acheverry, who works with the NGO Animal Balance. “Try to find alternative solutions. .
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