Colombia: Escobar's hippos threaten the environment

(ANSA) - ROME, FEBRUARY 10 - Hippos illegally imported into Colombia in the Eighties for the private zoo of the former king deinarcos Pablo Escobar now live in the wild and have greatly increased in recent decades, so much so that they pose a serious risk to biodiversity: cry of alarm launched by a group of scientists that these pachyderms must be killed before they wipe out the local flora and fauna.

    Escobar had also set up a huge zoo in his vast estate-fortress - the Hacienda Nápoles, in Doradal, in the Antioquia department - with rhinos, elephants, giraffes, hippos and other exotic animals.

When he was killed in 1993, many of these animals were transferred or died, the hippos were abandoned also due to the high costs and logistical problems associated with their transport.

    Various attempts by the government to control their population have failed and today it is estimated that in the last eight years alone their number has grown from 35 to 65-80.

According to a study by these scientists published last month in the Biological Conservation magazine, moreover, they could reach 1,500 by 2035.

    "I believe it is one of the greatest challenges of invasive species in the world," commented Nataly Castelblanco-Martínez, an ecologist at the University of Quintana Roo in Mexico and lead author of the study.

    But the idea of ​​killing hippos has already aroused a lot of criticism from the local population, who now consider them permanent residents in all respects.

In the meantime, the Hacienda Nápoles, with its approximately 3,000 hectares, has been transformed into a theme park, where these animals circulate freely, thus contributing to the economic support of the region generated by tourism.

(HANDLE).