# Just shoot the hippos! **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 27, 2020, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-shoot-the-hippos/848600 "2020-02-27T13:19:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-shoot-the-hippos/848600/1 "2020-02-27T13:19:34Z")
Apparently drug kingpin Pablo Escobar liked hippos, and imported some to his home in Columbia. Since his arrest, some have gone wild, where they are [thriving](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-24/pablo-escobars-hippos-cause-environmental-problems-in-colombia/11996292). The linked article discusses plans to address them “in humane ways” such as surgical sterilization. Seriously? Just shoot the damned things. Why is there any debate? Sure, animal rights and all - but at what cost? ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-shoot-the-hippos/848600/2 "2020-02-27T13:23:29Z")
No shooting hippos! ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-shoot-the-hippos/848600/3 "2020-02-27T13:56:54Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Seriously? Just shoot the damned things. > > Why is there any debate? I suppose it’s because the people who live there don’t want to shoot them. If they decided to go the shooting route, if sterilization doesn’t work, I’d recommend getting a Rich American Douchebag™ to pay top dollar for the opportunity. And TIL… it’s very difficult to castrate a hippo, it seems that their testicles are well protected and, um… shift. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-shoot-the-hippos/848600/4 "2020-02-27T14:23:06Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > I suppose it’s because the people who live there don’t want to shoot them. If they decided to go the shooting route, if sterilization doesn’t work, I’d recommend getting a Rich American Douchebag™ to pay top dollar for the opportunity. That was my thought; if indeed they are an invasive animal, then they ought to monetize it and have people (not just American) pay good money to go down there and hunt them. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-shoot-the-hippos/848600/5 "2020-02-27T18:48:54Z")
How much damage are they doing? They multiply slowly and I thought didn’t do much harm to the local environment, so why kill them. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-shoot-the-hippos/848600/6 "2020-02-27T18:55:03Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > How much damage are they doing? They multiply slowly and I thought didn’t do much harm to the local environment, so why kill them. From the article: > [@](#): > > However, the animals are having an impact on the native flora and fauna, with indications their presence is displacing some local species. > > A new study by researchers at the University of California, San Diego, found the hippos were changing the quality of the water. The hippos feed at night then spend the day cooling off in the water where they defecate, changing the chemistry in the lakes. Also, according to Tom Lehrer the plural is not hippopotamuses but hipponpotami. (My spell check doesn’t agree with Mr. Lehrer) ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-shoot-the-hippos/848600/7 "2020-02-27T19:19:33Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Why is there any debate? Sure, animal rights and all - but at what cost? You’re answering your own question. Not saying with certainty that it’s an animal rights issue, but it wouldn’t surprise me at all if that turned out to be the reason we’re not sending inviting jerk dentists to dispatch them with high-powered rifles. Here in Ann Arbor, we’ve got a deer population problem within the city itself. They get hit by cars and chew up people’s landscaping, and so for several years now, the city council has hired a team of sharpshooters to cull a predetermined number of them each winter. [The program has invited plenty of protest.](https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2020/01/opponents-of-ann-arbor-deer-cull-schedule-pair-of-protests.html) ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-shoot-the-hippos/848600/8 "2020-02-27T19:27:02Z")
They shoot water horses, don’t they? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-shoot-the-hippos/848600/9 "2020-02-27T21:35:57Z")
Hunting parties, huh? I clearly remember the last time this happened, people setting up hippo camps… ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-shoot-the-hippos/848600/10 "2020-02-27T22:38:07Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > From the article: > > Also, according to Tom Lehrer the plural is not hippopotamuses but hipponpotami. (My spell check doesn’t agree with Mr. Lehrer) That’s Allan Sherman, I think “One hippopotami cannot get on a bus, Because one hippopotami is two hippopotamus And if you have two goose, that makes one geese A pair of mouse is mice A pair of moose is meese” ---
**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-shoot-the-hippos/848600/11 "2020-02-27T22:39:06Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Apparently drug kingpin Pablo Escobar liked hippos, and imported some to his home in Columbia. Since his arrest… Interesting use of the word ‘arrest.’ ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-shoot-the-hippos/848600/12 "2020-02-27T22:52:47Z")
Heh…in the The Grand Tour’s Columbia Special, one of the assignments given to May, Hammond and Clarkson was to get a photo of those hippos. An amusing outing for the mis-adventuring trio. ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-shoot-the-hippos/848600/13 "2020-02-27T23:06:01Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > How much damage are they doing? They multiply slowly and I thought didn’t do much harm to the local environment, so why kill them. Also from the story linked to > [@](#): > > Later this year, Cornare will attempt multiple surgical sterilisations, as well as a chemical sterilisation technique that has been successful in pigs. > > But they acknowledge that won’t be enough to contain a hippopotamus population that is estimated to quadruple over the next 10 years and could eventually reach into the thousands. For now, it’s as much as they can afford. I won’t quote directly but also in the link is that they are very dangerous to humans. Hippos are pretty aggressive and massive. They kill more people in Africa than any other animal. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-shoot-the-hippos/848600/14 "2020-02-27T23:42:23Z")
It’s really not a good idea to import megafauna from elsewhere. Here is what happened when someone had the bright idea to bring North American beavers to [Tierra del Fuego](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2019/07/beaver-overpopulation-tierra-del-fuego/) in South America. Yes, they have tried [hunting them](https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/8qxkvb/beaver-slayers-of-patagonia) but it may be too late - there are too many. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2020, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-shoot-the-hippos/848600/15 "2020-02-28T00:58:53Z")
> [@bump](#): > > … have people (not just American) pay good money to go down there and hunt them. I don’t think hippo are real high on the list of desirable big game animals. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2020, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-shoot-the-hippos/848600/16 "2020-02-28T01:40:35Z")
> [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](#): > > Interesting use of the word ‘arrest.’ Well, it was a \*cardiac \* arrest, occasioned by acute lead poisoning. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2020, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-shoot-the-hippos/848600/17 "2020-02-28T01:49:36Z")
Easy solution: give them away for [Christmas presents.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57vrqCENNPc) ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2020, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-shoot-the-hippos/848600/18 "2020-02-28T02:15:54Z")
> [@bump](#): > > …if indeed they are an invasive animal, then they ought to monetize it… I think a reality TV show where there’s a race between gun totin’ locals and feral hippos to catch the Rich American Douchebag™ in the Columbian jungle might rate it’s socks off. ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2020, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-shoot-the-hippos/848600/19 "2020-02-28T04:47:08Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > …his home in Columbia. … > [@blondebear](#): > > … Columbia Special, … > [@penultima\_thule](#): > > … in the Columbian jungle … \ **Mrs Iggy** wants to says that It’s Colombia, not Columbia!\ As a native Colombian she is aware of the hippos. Though many locals refer to them as mascotas (pets) del pueblo, apparently the beasts have attacked local fishermen and damaged crops. And with the population booming and no real predators the problems are just going to grow. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2020, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-shoot-the-hippos/848600/20 "2020-02-28T05:02:08Z")
I’m glad we can stop ignoring the elephant in the room and start ignoring the hippo instead. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-shoot-the-hippos/848600.md?page=2)