Visiting the cocaine hippos of Colombia

Article about the environmental problems caused by Escobar's hippos - apparently they are going to try in-the-wild surgical sterilisation of the females to prevent the population growing further:

Pablo Escobar's hippos the new scourge of Colombia's waterways

...

Escobar was killed in 1993, but his life of luxury at the Hacienda Napoles ranch left a negative legacy for the Colombian environment, specifically around the town of Doradol, where hippopotamuses have been known to roam the streets or end up at the local soccer pitch.

At the height of his power in the 1980s, the druglord brought four hippos to a private zoo at his sprawling estate, along with giraffes and elephants. After his death, while other animals were taken away, the hippos were deemed too difficult and remained at the property.

Now an estimated 80 hippopotamuses, perhaps more, live in the area around the Rio Magdalena, Colombia's principal river.

...

However, the animals are having an impact on the native flora and fauna, with indications their presence is displacing some local species.

A new study by researchers at the University of California, San Diego, found the hippos were changing the quality of the water. The hippos feed at night then spend the day cooling off in the water where they defecate, changing the chemistry in the lakes.

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"We already have a report of a family of hippopotamuses in the Magdalena River. The Magdalena connects almost all of Colombia so they could move into any part of the country."

... read more​
 
FunkyGibbon said:
Pablo Escobar's 'cocaine hippos' show how invasive species can restore a lost world

On the other hand it seems there are ecological benefits as well. The hippos may act as 'replacements' for extinct megafauna.
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Like basically any newspaper that covers science, it is not completely correct.

The hippos might be one of the worst replacements, as they are semi-aquatic and move resources from land to water (by pooing ;)), which is not a trait known from extinct pleistocene species. When looking at their article in Africa, Asia, Europe and N-America the introduced species overlap in "trait-space" when compared to the pleistocene fauna. In both Australia and S-America the introduced species do however add new traits not present in the original pleistocene fauna, which could lead to ecological changes that are not historically accurate. Hippos mody of the Australian herbivore introductions are thus probably not so great even when comparing traits.

Looking only at traits also ignores how species like Hippos or dromedaries live and whether densities in invaded areas reflect those in their original range.

Looming above all this is whether we (should) want to go back to a pleistocene baseline of nature, a time before human influence. In many European and Asian areas this is unlikely to be feasible and would mean loss of important semi-natural landscapes, which in W Europe are the most species rich and harbour many endangered species. The same discussion is valid for other continents as well.
 
FunkyGibbon said:
Pablo Escobar's 'cocaine hippos' show how invasive species can restore a lost world
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There is no clear idea what role extinct megafauna had in the ecosystem of Colombia, so whether hippos replace them or maybe destroy the ecosystem further is pure fantasy.

There are few cases where a particular role of extinct animals in the ecosystem is known (like dispersing seeds of large fruit in the Americas or Mauritius, or trampling moss and promoting grasses in the tundra). There an ambitious scientist could seriously think what other animal could replace it. Now it is fantasy not rewilding.

It is also sad that a problem with an invasive species is watched, written about, even studied by scientists, but not simply solved.
 
Jurek7 said:
There is no clear idea what role extinct megafauna had in the ecosystem of Colombia, so whether hippos replace them or maybe destroy the ecosystem further is pure fantasy.

There are few cases where a particular role of extinct animals in the ecosystem is known (like dispersing seeds of large fruit in the Americas or Mauritius, or trampling moss and promoting grasses in the tundra). There an ambitious scientist could seriously think what other animal could replace it. Now it is fantasy not rewilding.

It is also sad that a problem with an invasive species is watched, written about, even studied by scientists, but not simply solved.
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Yes, I fully agree with you.

A lot of this talk of replacement for extinct megafauna with regards to these invasive hippos is all just conjecture and bulls*** from the ivory tower.
 
Arizona Docent said:
They must be culled, but so must a lot of non-native species around the world. Sadly those efforts are often blocked by misguided animals rights persons. As for the hippos I say sell hunting permits to trophy hunters and use the money for conservation projects in Columbia.
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That is an interesting thought but do you think Colombia would work as well as Africa as a destination for trophy hunting of hippo though ?
 
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