How many hippos in colombia

Oral history suggests his associates were wowed by his collection of spectacular beasts of the wild, which included about animals. Most were shipped off to zoos, though the logistics of moving the four hippos — each weighing well over a metric ton — proved insurmountable, and they were left to wander the Andes. As many as 24 hippos have been sterilized so far, using Gonacon, an immunocontraceptive vaccine, which works temporarily but can cause permanent infertility. But that could change if this population of notoriously disagreeable animals grows exponentially.

She stresses that hippos are considered vulnerable to extinction , and considers having a refuge population outside of Africa to be a boon. Wallach is not alone in her positive feelings; the animals have many fans. They also attract tourists and tourism dollars, which my help offset some concerns about the animals. Upwards of 50, tourists visit Hacienda Napoles every year, according to some estimates.

For now, without immediate plans to relocate or sterilize all the animals, the creatures will continue to fend for themselves and expand. Shurin looks forward to studying the long-term impacts of their residency, assuming they indeed remain. All rights reserved. Editor's note : This story was originally published September 26, It was updated and republished January 31, , with new information from a recent study on the hippos.

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But will they invade your privacy? Go Further. Hippos can live to be 50 years old in the wild and have no natural predators in Colombia; over time, the environmental impact of all that breeding, eating and pooping will only increase, especially if the herd keeps growing. The bigger the hippo herd is, the greater the likelihood of run-ins with local fishers, and those encounters could lead to attacks against people, according to CORNARE.

Chemical sterilization is cheaper and far less dangerous than other options for hippo population control, such as culling or surgical castration. However, this is only the first stage of the vaccination process, as animals this size will likely require three doses of GonaCon to ensure their sterilization, CORNARE representatives said. Mindy Weisberger is a Live Science senior writer covering a general beat that includes climate change, paleontology, weird animal behavior, and space.

Mindy holds an M. But such procedures are far from simple - or cheap - and Carlos Valderrama has experience of this. In , he performed a castration of a male "cocaine hippo" as part of an experiment to study options to control the growing population. It was like being with a dinosaur in a Jurassic Park movie. Official government statistics show only four animals underwent sterilisation between and It is simply not possible to reach all of them easily.

Meanwhile, they will keep on reproducing," Mr Valderrama said. So what is stopping the authorities from taking more drastic action? The short answer: public opinion. After Colombian media reported on the study, biologist Nataly Castelblanco started receiving abuse and death threats.

Hippos are also dangerous, and they frequently appear on lists of the world's deadliest animals. In the BBC reported that their attacks kill at least people a year in Africa.

There have been no fatalities in Colombia, but last May local media reported that a farm worker was seriously injured by a hippo in a town near Hacienda Napoles. Still, there was a massive public outcry when Colombian Army soldiers gunned down the hippo Pepe in , after it was deemed a threat to local communities.