VOA今日美国2023 哥伦比亚计划向印度和墨西哥运送70头河马（在线收听）

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.

这些河马生活在犯罪组织头目巴勃罗·埃斯科瓦尔之前的农场附近，埃斯科瓦尔于1993年去世。

He had illegally imported four hippos from Africa in the 1980s.

20世纪80年代，他从非洲非法进口了四头河马。

The animals mated and their numbers increased.

河马交配导致其数量增加。

The hippos are territorial in behavior and weigh up to three tons.

河马有很强的领地意识，重达3吨。

They have spread far beyond the Hacienda Napoles property, which is about 200 kilometers from Bogota along the Magdalena River.

它们的活动范围已经远远超出了距离波哥大约200公里的马格达莱纳河沿岸的Hacienda Napoles庄园。

Environmental officials estimate there are about 130 hippos in the area in Antioquia province.

环境官员估计，位于安蒂奥基亚省的这一地区约有130头河马。

The experts said the hippo population there could reach 400 in eight years.

专家们表示，那里的河马数量在8年内可能会达到400头。

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

自从埃斯科瓦尔被警方击毙以来，他的Hacienda Napoles庄园和河马成为了一个旅游景点。

Scientists warn the hippos do not have a natural predator in Colombia.

科学家警告称，河马在哥伦比亚没有天敌。

The animals also could be a problem for biodiversity as the waste they produce changes the composition of the rivers.

这些动物也会给生物多样性带来影响，因为它们产生的排泄物改变了河流的组成成分。

The environmental changes could threaten native animals including manatees and capybaras.

环境变化可能会威胁到包括海牛和水豚在内的当地动物。

Last year, Colombia's government declared the hippos a harmful invasive species.

去年，哥伦比亚政府宣布将河马列为有害的入侵物种。

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.

安蒂奥基亚省环境部动物保护和福利主任莉娜·马塞拉·德洛斯·里奥斯·莫拉莱斯表示，将这些动物运往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.

动物饲养员会用食物诱骗河马进入大型的铁容器里。

Then, trucks would transport the animals to the international airport in the city of Rionegro, 150 kilometers away.

然后，卡车将把这些动物运送到150公里外的里奥内格罗国际机场。

From there, the hippos would be flown to India and Mexico, where there are animal shelters and zoos to house the animals.

从那里，河马将被空运到印度和墨西哥，那里有动物庇护所和动物园来安置这些动物。

"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.

负责监督这一行动的当地环境机构Cornare的发言人戴维·埃切弗里·洛佩斯说，“这是有可能做到的，我们已经有了在全国动物园重新安置河马的经验。”

The plan is to send 60 hippos to the Greens Zoological Rescue & Rehabilitation Kingdom in Gujarat, India.

该计划将把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。

De los Ríos Morales said the center would pay for the cost of the containers and airlift.

德洛斯·里奥斯·莫拉莱斯说，该中心将支付集装箱和空运的费用。

Another 10 hippos would go to zoos and protected areas in Mexico such as the Ostok Sanctuary, in Sinaloa state.

另外10头河马将被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.

该计划旨在捕捉生活在Hacienda Napoles庄园周围河流中的河马。

The ones on the property are not a concern.

该庄园里的那些河马并不是问题。

Officials said those hippos are in a controlled environment and do not threaten the local environment.

官员们表示，这些河马处于受控环境中，不会对当地环境构成威胁。

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

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

I'm Caty Weaver.

凯蒂·韦弗为您播报。