Plan to airlift dozens of 'cocaine hippos' from Colombia to India and Mexico

They start injecting "cocaine hippos" with contraceptives 0:51

(CNN Spanish) --

It seems like fiction, but it is not: dozens of "cocaine hippos" —the most unexpected legacy of drug trafficker Pablo Escobar— will be transferred from Colombia to India and Mexico by air, according to the governor of Antioquia, in an attempt to solve a problem that threatens ecosystems and even the safety of the populations that live in their environment.

In the 1980s, 'El Patrón' imported one male hippo and three females for his collection of wild animals.

After his death in 1993, authorities relocated some of the exotic animal species he kept, but not the hippos, as they were difficult to capture and transport, CNN previously reported.

These huge mammals began to disperse from their original location, which was approximately 250 km from Medellín, through the Magdalena River basin.

And they began to reproduce, posing an environmental challenge that the country has not yet been able to solve due to its negative impact on ecosystems.

Currently, according to the data handled by the Government, the number amounts to between 130 and 160. And it could grow to around 1,500 in less than two decades, according to a 2021 study referenced by the journal

Authorities have tried to control population growth with traditional sterilizations and 'shots' of contraceptive darts.

This week, the governor of Antioquia, Aníbal Gaviria, reported on his Twitter account that there is a plan underway to transfer 70 of these hippos to natural sanctuaries located in India and Mexico.

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Why India and Mexico?

The technical term for the operation is "translocating," Gaviria explained in an interview with the Colombian outlet Blu Radio, since it involves moving the hippos from a country where they do not originate to two other countries where they do not originate either, but where there are sanctuaries that can welcome them.

The objective, he said, is "to take them to countries where these institutions have the capacity to receive them, to have them properly and to control their reproduction."

And he clarified that their original habitat, which is Africa, is precisely where "it is not allowed to take them" in these cases.

María Ángela Echeverry, professor of Biology at the Javeriana University, had previously explained to CNN the risks of moving hippos to the African continent as a solution: "Every time we move animals or plants from one place to the other, we also move their pathogens, their bacteria and their viruses. And we could be bringing new diseases to Africa, not just for the hippos that are out there in the wild, but new diseases for the entire African ecosystem that hasn't evolved with that type of disease."

In addition to reducing the population of hippos in Colombia, they will seek to establish an exchange of knowledge that allows local authorities to control the reproduction of those that do remain in the country (which, when under control, can contribute tourist interest to the region, according to the hierarch).

By air and without sedation: the details of the hippo transfer plan

The hippos will travel by air, for which it will be necessary to build special transport boxes that can support their size and strength, Gaviria said in the radio interview.

A total of 70 are expected to be transferred —60 to India and 10 to Mexico— among which there will be males and females.

As planned, they will not be sedated, but there will be the "possibility of emergency sedation during the flight if one of the hippos has some kind of nervous breakdown," Gaviria said.

Regarding the deadlines, Gaviria said that if the necessary permits are expedited, especially those from the Colombian Agricultural Institute, it could be done in the first half of this year.

The governor added that about 90% of the costs of the operation will be absorbed by India.

However, he also stressed the participation of another interested private party.

It is an international television channel, according to what he said without further specifications, which provided funds and which in theory would accompany the entire process.

With regard to Mexico, the management has been with the Ostok animal sanctuary.

Hippos at the Hacienda Nápoles theme park, once the private zoo of drug lord Pablo Escobar at his ranch in the Colombian city of Doradal on September 12, 2020.

The dangers of 'cocaine hippos'

Hippos, an invasive species, pose a danger to local ecosystems and sometimes even to humans.

A study published in 2021 in the journal

, then reported by CNN, cites research showing the negative effects of hippo waste on oxygen levels in bodies of water.

This can have an impact on fish kills and ultimately humans.

Regarding watercourses, a 2019 study cited by

magazine showed that lakes where there are hippos, compared to those that do not, have more nutrients that favor the appearance of cyanobacteria related to toxic algae.

In addition to affecting fish, these blooms can reduce water quality.

The researchers also raised concerns in 2021 about possible disease transmission from hippos to humans.

And they mention the threat they pose to the livelihoods and security of people in the areas where they are found, because they eat or damage crops and engage in aggressive interactions with humans.

"Hippos live in herds, they are quite aggressive. They are very territorial and are plant eaters in general," said Professor Echeverry.

Added to this is the fact, as the specialist explained, that they are in a terrain that is favorable for their reproduction, since it has shallow water sources and a large concentration of food around.

This differs from the African savannah, where the existence of periods of severe drought affects the animals.

The news about the translocation of dozens of hippos coincides with the publication, in the scientific journal

, of an article in which researchers express their concern about the possibility that the Colombian government will "side with the defenders of the rights of animals instead of slowing the spread of invasive animals.

Until now, Colombia has not been able to solve a problem that, in the words of Gaviria to Blu Radio, "got out of control."

And that, experts warn, it can be much worse without clear action.

With information from Paula Bravo, Melissa Velásquez Loaiza, Jack Guy and Stefano Pozzebon.

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