Your own Hippo, free?
Along the Magdalena River, fishermen move with wary precision. From the silty, tea-colored current, hippopotamuses can surface without warning, closing the distance to a vessel in a single heartbeat. “These hippos are a true nightmare,” said fisherman Wilinton Sánchez about the semi-aquatic animals capable of charging at speeds of up to 5 miles per hour in water and 18 mph on land. “We were out Saturday when one lunged … reared up and swung its jaws wide. If it ever gets hold of you, it’ll tear you to pieces.” Several afternoons a week, boats filled with Colombian and foreign tourists arrive to scan the shoreline waiting for signs in the murky water. Even these “hippo-watching” outings can occasionally end in screams as the animals close the distance with terrifying speed, but they also bring needed business to the community.
The hippos, an invasive species in Colombia, are part of a population of 200 that continues to reproduce unchecked. They are the offspring of animals illegally brought to the country in the 1980s by the late drug kingpin Pablo Escobar for his private zoo at Hacienda Nápoles. Colombia’s Environment Ministry has warned that the country’s hippo population will exceed 500 by 2030 without intervention. To prevent this, officials recently approved a plan to euthanize approximately 80 hippos starting in the latter half of the year. The measure has ignited a fierce debate. Scientists advocating for euthanasia have faced death threats, while animal welfare activists decry the plan as “murder.” Meanwhile, many residents of Puerto Triunfo fear that losing the animals will destroy the tourism that sustains their community.
As one of the largest terrestrial mammals on Earth, hippopotamuses have now spread across approximately large areas of Columbia’s rivers. Hippo’s are the number one killer of humans in Africa. These large-bodied herbivores that move constantly between the water and the land “can significantly impact the structure of ecosystems,” said Daniel Cadena, University of the Andes. Relocating the animals to other countries has failed to gain traction. Despite initial interest, the Environment Ministry said that no country has committed to the transfer. Potential hosts have been deterred either by the high costs of receiving the massive mammals or by legal bans on importing invasive species. Columbia is stuck and getting stucker.
Hippo Humor
What do you call a cross between a hippopotamus and something that is not a moose?
A hipponotamoose.
If the Mexican Drug Cartel had a slogan,
It would be “Putting the ‘Juan’ in ‘Marijuana.'”
Dumb questions from tourists in Africa:
Will I be able to swim with hippos?
What did the hippopotamus do to the reporter?
He hippo-tized him!
Birthdays on May 7th
1991 – Sydney Leroux, 1980 – Betsy Rue, 1994 – Erica Fernandez, 1987 – Katie Danza
1966 – Brian Kilmeade, 1833 – Johannes Brahms, 1933 – Johnny Unitas, 1901 – Gary Cooper