2023-06-14 13:52:49
When he was at the height of his empire, Pablo Escobar spent two million dollars on build a zoo with 1,900 exotic species in its mythical Hacienda Nápoles, the operations center of the Medellín cartel in the Colombian department of Antioquía.
Thirty years after his death, four of those animals –three females and one male hipoppotamus– put in check the biodiversity of the Magdalena River basin, which occupies 24% of the national territory.
Narcoanimals, the unusual legacy of Pablo Escobar in Colombia
After the mammals escaped from the ranch, their descendants settled in the basin. With no predators like lions and hyenas, and no drought to keep them in check, they reproduced so fast that today they form the largest population outside of Africa.
The situation is full of contradictions. When security forces killed a aggressive male in 2009, the photo of soldiers posing with the corpse caused a wave of national outrage. And while some communities profit from the tourism generated by hippos, others, especially fishermen, live in fear of the beasts capable of tearing off a person’s arm.
Beyond the attacks and road accidents registered in the last three years, the damage to ecosystems is multiple. As they move their huge bodies through rivers, mammals weighing up to three tons erode the banks and dig mud ruts that fragment the forest. Competition with manatees, capybaras and river otters, defenseless before the unexpected visit, also intensifies.
Pablo Escobar’s “cocaine hippos”, a species that grows out of control
Now a magazine article Nature reveals that the number of specimens is even greater than the 98 that were thought. A census commissioned by the government itself revealed that there are up to 215 animals, 37% of them juveniles, which suggests that they are being playing quickly.
Given this panorama, the solutions being considered are multiple and contradictory. sacrifice them it would slow the loss of native flora and fauna, although it raises an ethical dilemma and a question mark over the total cost. castrate them it would imply a process of half a century until eradication. take them to foreign shrinesan investment of 3.5 million dollars.
The most eccentric option, but still on the table, is to appeal to the contraceptives. In this case, the investigators would take their precautions: they would use darts thrown from a distance, to leave the scene quickly and avoid the fury of the invading creatures.
MVB JL
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