The late kingpin's animals have roamed free since the early 1990s, but their tenure could soon come to an end.
  • jordanlund@lemmy.worldMEnglish
    501·
    2 months ago

    I’m torn… on the one hand… dangerous invasive species… on the other hand…

  • dogslayeggs@lemmy.worldEnglish
    43·
    2 months ago

    This is one of those weird instances of flipped roles. Hippos are horrible for the natural environment in Colombia, but the locals actually love them because they bring in tourist dollars. Enough people want to see the hippos that the locals have set up tour companies around it. So the environmentalists want to kill the animals, and the local businesses are trying to protect the animals.

    • Duamerthrax@lemmy.worldEnglish
      7·
      2 months ago

      They could also capture them and put them in an enclosure. That or spay/neuter them and release back as a compromise. It might be too hard to sedated an animal of that size though.

  • hakunawazo@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    2 months ago

    Everytime I see that creatures I remember my encounter with one of them at the zoo.
    It rotated it’s tail like a ventilator and pooped the soggiest crap imaginable. The wall tiles of the indoor enclosure were a complete mess.

  • Fades@lemmy.worldEnglish
    65·
    2 months ago

    Why must they be killed, surely they can be moved. You’re gonna be moving them anyway dead or alive.

    • norimee@lemmy.worldEnglish
      23·
      2 months ago

      You obviously didn’t make the effort to look at more than the headline.

      The article states clearly that colombia tried several other messures to control the hippo population. Neither transfering efforts nor population control were fruitful. But from the 4 hippos in escobars zoo there are now nearly 200 and they expect the population to grow to >1000 until 2035 if they don’t get the situation under controll.

      Hippos are super heavy and super dangerous and super difficult to move alive. They just hunt you down and kill you for sport. In addition to being an invasive species in colombia, taking important living spaces from local wildlife (that dies in consequence too).