VOA慢速英语：哥伦比亚将向印度、墨西哥运送入侵河马

Colombia is proposing to send at least 70 hippopotamuses to India and Mexico as part of a plan to control the hippo population.

作为控制河马数量计划的一部分，哥伦比亚提议向印度和墨西哥运送至少70头河马。

The hippos live near the former farm of the crime group leader Pablo Escobar, who died in 1993. He had illegally imported four hippos from Africa in the 1980s. The animals mated and their numbers increased.

这些河马居住在毒枭巴勃罗·埃斯科瓦尔之前的农场附近，埃斯科瓦尔于1993年去世。他在20世纪80年代从非洲非法进口了4头河马。经过交配繁殖，目前数量惊人。

The hippos are territorial in behavior and weigh up to three tons. They have spread far beyond the Hacienda Napoles property, which is about 200 kilometers from Bogota along the Magdalena River. Environmental officials estimate there are about 130 hippos in the area in Antioquia province. The experts said the hippo population there could reach 400 in eight years.

河马有很强的领地意识，体重可达三吨。他们已经蔓延到距离波哥大约200公里的马格达莱纳河沿岸的拿破仑庄园之外。环境官员估计，安蒂奥基亚省的这一地区大约有130头河马。专家们说，那里的河马数量可能在八年内达到400只。

Escobar’s Hacienda Napoles and the hippos have become a tourist attraction in the years since Escobar was killed by police.

自埃斯科瓦尔死后，那不勒斯庄园和河马群已成为了一个旅游景点。

Scientists warn the hippos do not have a natural predator in Colombia. The animals also could be a problem for biodiversity as the waste they produce changes the composition of the rivers. The environmental changes could threaten native animals including manatees and capybaras. Last year, Colombia’s government declared the hippos a harmful invasive species.

科学家警告说，河马在哥伦比亚没有天敌。这些动物也可能会对生物多样性产生威胁，因为它们产生的废物改变了河流的组成。进而威胁到包括海牛和水豚在内的本土动物。去年，哥伦比亚政府宣布将河马列入有害入侵物种。

The plan to take the animals to India and Mexico has been forming for more than a year, said Lina Marcela de los Ríos Morales, director of animal protection and welfare at Antioquia’s environment ministry.

安蒂奥基亚环境部动物保护和福利主任莉娜·马塞拉·德洛斯·里奥斯·莫拉莱斯说，将这些动物送到印度和墨西哥的计划已经酝酿了一年多。

Animal caretakers would use food to trick the hippos into getting into large, iron containers. Then, trucks would transport the animals to the international airport in the city of Rionegro, 150 kilometers away. From there, the hippos would be flown to India and Mexico, where there are animal shelters and zoos to house the animals.

动物管理员会用食物诱骗河马进入大型铁容器。然后，用卡车把动物运到150公里外的里奥内格罗市的国际机场。再从那里，将河马空运到印度和墨西哥的动物收容所和动物园。

“It is possible to do, we already have experience relocating hippos in zoos nationwide,” said David Echeverri López, a spokesman for Cornare, the local environmental agency that would oversee the operation.

“这个方案是可行的，我们已经有了在全国动物园重新安置河马的经验。”当地环境机构Cornare的发言人大卫·埃切维里·洛佩斯说，他将监督这项行动。

The plan is to send 60 hippos to the Greens Zoological Rescue & Rehabilitation Kingdom in Gujarat, India. De los Ríos Morales said the center would pay for the cost of the containers and airlift. Another 10 hippos would go to zoos and protected areas in Mexico such as the Ostok Sanctuary, in Sinaloa state.

该计划是将60头河马送往印度古吉拉特邦的绿色动物救援和康复王国。德洛斯·里奥斯·莫拉莱斯表示，该中心将支付集装箱和空运的费用。另外10头河马送往墨西哥的动物园和保护区，比如锡那罗亚州的奥斯托克保护区。

The plan aims to catch the hippos living in the rivers surrounding the Hacienda Napoles property. The ones on the property are not a concern. Officials said those hippos are in a controlled environment and do not threaten the local environment.

该计划主要捕捉生活在拿破仑庄园周围河流中的河马。庄园里的河马不在此列。官员们表示，这些河马生活在受控的环境中，不会对当地环境造成威胁。

Ecuador, the Philippines and Botswana have also expressed their willingness to take the Colombian hippos, the Antioquia Governor’s Office says.

安蒂奥基亚州长办公室表示，厄瓜多尔、菲律宾和博茨瓦纳也表示愿意接收哥伦比亚河马。

I’m Caty Weaver.

卡蒂·韦弗报道。