Aliens - ISSG

due to the high volumes of drugs required, the thick
skin and fat tissue can limit the quantity of drugs
administered. Staff should also be aware of sudden
arousals (Fowler and Miller 2003). Even though castrations
in mammals are relatively easy, hippos have
internal testicles and a thick layer of fat and skin
which make access difficult. This is why surgery can
take a long time, leading to further complications
of anesthesia and surgery viability (Eltringham
1999).
Fig. 4. One of the calves killed by the hippo (Hippopotamus
amphibius) (FVSN 2009). Photo: Carlos Valderrama
Since 2007, to prevent people getting killed or injured
by the hippos that leave Hacienda Nápoles, a
plan was set up to relocate them. Unfortunately it
was impossible to find a place for relocation and after
2 years of effort one of the hippos was culled because
it attacked the fishermen and killed 6 calves
(figure 4) in Puerto Berrio (Antioquia), putting the
local community at risk (FVSN 2009).
In 2010 another hippo was sighted outside Hacienda
Nápoles and again a plan was set up to relocate it, as
part of the Program designed by the Local Environmental
Authority CORNARE and the Ministry of Environment
for the Management of the Hippo population.
Fortunately, this time the Hacienda Nápoles accepted
the return of the hippo and by March 2011 it
was successfully captured (Figure 5a), castrated (figure
5b) and relocated back to the Hacienda Nápoles
using a Russian helicopter MI 17 provided by the
Colombian Army (figure 5c) (Valderrama Vásquez
2011). To this author’s knowledge, this is the first castration
of a hippo in the wild and it was carried out
to stop its reproduction; to reduce its territorial behavior
and to prevent fighting with the dominant male
of the herd when returned to Hacienda Nápoles
(Valderrama Vásquez 2011).
Fig. 5. Pictures taken during the capture, castration and
relocation back to Hacienda Nápoles of a hippo (Hippopotamus
amphibious). The procedure was recorded for the
documentary “Drug Kingpin Hippos” that was produced
by Explora Films for Animal Planet. a) Capture of a wild
hippo. b) Castration of a wild hippo. c) Backhoe and Russian
helicopter MI 17 used for the transportation. The helicopter
was provided by the Colombian Army. Photo: Explora
Films
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