Disturbing news for those of us who have been admiring the “brío” of the hippos cruising the Magdalena River since early 2007. There’s always been something very attractive to me in the image of those two hippos thundering away from Pablo Escobar’s estate towards freedom. I hoped they’d stay free for generations. But now, “Pepe”, the male, is dead, shot twice in the head, once in the heart, assassinated, in fact, with official government approval. Bad enough they shot him at all – but in the heart? The ultimate insult to such a brave fellow!
Pepe - a photo that appeared in the online newspaper, eltiempo.com
He is survived by his mate and a young ‘un. Or maybe by only the young ‘un, as there seems to be some doubt about the fate of the female. A number of campesinos say they know where the mother and child are, but are so outraged by the murder of Pepe, with whom they feel they had learned to “get along,” they’ve vowed never to reveal their location to outsiders.
The story was that Pepe, had been gradually getting more and more aggressive. He’d killed seven goats and had charged several fishing boats (although only scaring the occupants). It was also suspected that he carried bad bacteria in his body and might be infecting the waters of the Magdalena with brusellosis (also lyrically known as “undulant fever”), tuberculosis, or anthrax.
Corantioquia, the Autonomous Corporation for the Central Region of Antioquia, with the approval of the Ministry of the Environment, issued the kill order, via a document called a “permit to hunt for animal control”. Claudia Mora, Vice-Minister for the Environment, says that this action was taken because the two-year search for the hippos, in hopes of catching and moving them, had run up a lot of bills, but not produced any results. And although many might have preferred to see the animals placed in zoos, no Colombian zoos were willing to take them, because they simply don’t have facilities for hippos.
Supposedly, the state can only authorize the destruction of a wild animal if they’ve proved that it’s dangerous to human life and public health, and only if killing it is the sole remaining solution. Two expert marksmen were hired, who shot Pepe with high potency game rifles from a distance of 300 feet. They say he collapsed in 2 minutes and didn’t suffer. Sorry boys, two minutes sounds like a long time to lie there with a bullet in your brain…or heart.
Photo of Pepe's executioners. I first saw this in eltiempo.com, but it has been much circulated on the net since then.
They paused for a photo op, and then gutted him and buried the entrails where he was shot. Took samples of his blood, heart, lungs, intestines, fecal matter, and eyes, to determine if indeed he was carrying nasty microbes. (Do you suppose, if it turns out Pepe was in fact infected with evil bacteria, that they’ll return to dig up and burn his entrails, to protect the local human population?) A taxidermist is preparing Pepe’s head and feet for an exhibition at the zoo in Tocancipá, the purpose of which will be to raise public consciousness of the evils of illegal trafficking in wild animals. I suspect seeing only Pepe’s head and feet may also raise consciousness about crass disrespect and cruelty.
Pepe was tracked down and shot near Puerto Berrío in mid-June, but only yesterday did the newspaper get hold of the story. One has to wonder why the ministry kept this out of the news for so long, but perhaps some latent guilt made them hold back, for this morning there’s another headline: “Shooting of ‘Pepe’ Generating Enormous Controversy.”
Juan Lozano, an ex-Minister of the Environment came forward and insisted that the business of the environmental authorities should always be to protect animals, not kill them. He demands that the remaining two hippos be captured and moved to their natural habitat in Central Africa, or to a zoo. “Protection of life is fundamental,” he said, decrying the execution.
Although some campesinos had complained about the continued presence of the hippo in the river, yesterday a number of them (who, after all, felt good enough about him to give him a name!) also rejected the killing.
“We’d gotten used to him; what they did seems unfair. They could have captured him and taken him somewhere else. If they come back here, we’re not telling them where the baby is.”
Because some of them believe the female was killed by free-lancing hunters, hungry for a supposed “bounty” of 10 million pesos, and that the baby is now alone. The director of Corantioquia has responded, saying that although they have authorization to kill the baby, they plan to track him down, capture and move him. But Mora insists that we all need to get a grip and be responsible adults about this.
“People suppose that moving a hippo from one place to another is like roping and leading a cow. But it’s not, and it costs a lot of money. These animals were introduced into Colombia, but nobody in this country has the knowledge needed to manage them. Plus, there are 25 other hippos still living on the Escobar estate, Hacienda Nápoles. We have to move them too, because although they’re getting basic care, they need to be in their natural habitat.”
Me, I think it’s a crying shame, so I guess I’m not a grown up when it comes to the Nápoles hippos. I have an admittedly romantic attitude towards them – breaking out of a life too limiting for them, striking out for parts unknown, alone, with only their instincts to guide them, creating a family and making it work for over two years… Except for that last bit, it’s not that different from what I did just a few months before them, so I see them as kindred in a way. Fortunately, nobody seriously objects to my presence in Colombian territory, and thank god I don’t have bouts of ill humor that send me charging at passing vehicles.
We humans have such a strong urge to control, to wrap everything in asphalt, wall ourselves in, everything else out, and woe betide anyone, animal or human, who refuses to conform to the boundaries we set. I tend towards sympathy with any being that wants to break out of those boundaries in search of a more fulfilling life.
OK, I admit, if a goat were one of my few assets in the world and a hippo killed it, I’d be pretty upset. But I could as easily lose it to a some other predator. And there are always desperate people around, willing to steal an animal for food. Not to mention the whack jobs out there who kill animals for fun. Getting rid of a hippo would by no means insure the safety of my livestock. Come to think of it, keeping hippos away is no guarantee that any of us will live to see tomorrow. So I lean towards “live and let live,” when it comes to the Nápoles hippos.
I really wish I hadn’t heard about Pepe’s demise. I’d rather have continued imagining him and his family, lounging in warm river waters, grazing near the banks, and wallowing in the mud on hot humid days in the Magdalena Medio.
So, here’s to Pepe, the hippo. May he rest in peace in a moist and muddy hippo heaven, empty of those irritating humans, but filled with miles and miles of green grass and water cress – and a whole pod of doting females.
