Colombia’s Environment Minister Susana Muhammad has sparked fear among researchers that the country will protect, rather than reduce, the growing population of invasive hippos that threaten the country’s natural ecosystems and biodiversity. Although he did not directly mention Colombia’s controversial hippopotamus, Muhammad said in a speech in late January that he would create policies that prioritize animal welfare, including the creation of a new department for animal protection. rice field.
Hippo fled drug cartel leader Pablo Escobar’s mansion after his death in 1993. A male and his three females, which Escobar illegally imported from US zoos, were left alone to settle in Colombia’s Magdalena River and several small lakes nearby. main basin. After years of breeding, scientists estimate that the “cocaine hippo” numbered about 150.
Hippopotamus (hippopotamus amphibius) – Considered the world’s largest invasive animal – Colombia has no natural predators and mates at a steady rate, according to a modeling study published in 2021, whose population is 16 years old The government is waiting for action,” says Natalie Castellblanco Martínez, a Colombian conservation biologist at the Autonomous University of Quintana Roo in Chetumal, Mexico, and co-author of the study. . “If nothing is done, the problem is still there after 20 years.”
Researchers are calling for a strict management plan that will eventually bring wild populations to zero by culling some animals and capturing others and moving them to zoos and other facilities. However, the question of what to do with hippopotamus divides the country, with some fascinated by its charisma and value as a tourist attraction, while others are concerned about the threat it poses to the environment and local fishing communities. I am polarizing it.
“A little surreal”
Several studies and observations suggest how devastating it would be to allow the hippopotamus population in Colombia to explode. For example, a 2019 paper found that compared to lakes without hippos, lakes with hippos contain nutrients and organic matter that promote the growth of cyanobacteria (aquatic microbes associated with poisonous algae flowers). It was shown to contain many These blooms can degrade water quality, cause mass fish mortality, and affect local fishing communities.
Other scientists predict that hippos may drive out endangered species native to the Magdalena River, such as the Antillean Manatee (Trichechus manatee manatee), by beating them with food and space. They warn that road accidents and attacks on people by hippos will become more common. And they warn that wildlife traffickers are already taking advantage of the situation by illegally selling baby hippos. This trend is likely to intensify further.
“It’s a little surreal,” says Jorge Moreno Bernal, a vertebrate paleontologist at Northern University in Barranquilla, Colombia. “This is just one example of what might happen.”
When Colombian authorities first realized the rate at which the hippopotamus population was growing in the 2000s, they acted to reduce their numbers. But in 2009, protests from animal rights activists and others sent the environment ministry into “systemic paralysis” when a photo was published online after soldiers shot and killed Escobar’s fugitive male hippo, Pepe. It did, says Sebastian Restrepo Calle, an ecologist at the University of Javeriana. Bogota.
According to researchers, hippopotamus does not belong to Colombia and is native to sub-Saharan Africa. According to simulations by Castelblanco Martínez and her colleagues, about 30 hippos per year would need to be removed from the wild population to bring the population to zero by 2033. Other actions, including sterilization and castration, would not be able to eradicate them, says Castellbranco Martinez, according to modeling of various management scenarios.
compensation for inaction
Restrepo Calle says the concern now is that governments are listening to public opinion rather than basing decisions on protection evidence and expertise.Neither Muhammad nor the Ministry of Environment representative responded. Naturerequest for comment.
“Why would we prioritize one species over our own ecosystem?” — asks Alejandra Echeverri, a Colombian conservation scientist at Stanford University in California, especially for non-native species. Echeverri and her colleagues published a study last month that showed that compared to the total number of biodiversity policies, Colombia has few policies to control invasive species.
Animal rights advocates, on the other hand, argue that they are not ignoring environmental concerns. Maldonado says it’s important to solve the problem while giving the hippo justice, “rather than saving him on a whim.” “My uncontroversial position is to save as many people as possible, and do so ethically.”
Researchers also say they have the animal’s best interests at heart. “What if [advocates] We care about hippos,” says Castelbranco Martinez. “The more time passes, the more hippos will have to be culled, castrated and captured.”
The question is whether environmental authorities will act quickly to draft and implement ethical and effective management plans. Castelblanco Martínez warns that if the problem is left alone for too long, the rural communities most affected by kava may take matters into their own hands.
She says people will use shotguns if the government doesn’t cull them.
This article is reproduced with permission and was first published on March 2, 2023.
