Los hipopótamos (Hippopotamus amphibius) en Colombia. Especie exótica, introducida e invasora
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Date
2014-10-17
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Corporación Universitaria Lasallista
Abstract
In 1985 drug dealer Pablo Escobar imported a number between two and five individuals
of the hippopotamus species that, after two decades, have mated and moved
throughout the Magdalena Medio zone. Nowadays, a number between ten and thirty
of these animals can be living free near the Magdalena river, and about sixty can be
living in the country. Hippopotamus in Colombia are exotic and imported animals and,
as time passes, they will become invaders, given the fact they can bring environmental
risks by competing against native species. Some of the possible effects of the introduction
of these animals are the habitat alteration, disruption of the ecosystem processes
and destabilization of environmental systems. The measures to control them –which
require high budgets for capture, a birth control, captivity or euthanasia-, must be established
immediately, as native biologic, hydro biologic and fishery resources could
disappear because of this invasive species.
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Keywords
Corporación Universitaria Lasallista, Institución Universitaria Colegio Mayor de Antioquia, Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, Hippopotamus amphibius, Especie invasora, Eutanasia, Castración, Bioética