'Cocaine hippos' belonging to Pablos Escobar helped restore a lost ecosystem
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‘Cocaine hippos’ belonging to Pablo Escobar helped restore a lost ecosystem

Pablo Escobar was a Colombian drug lord who left a legacy of crime and violence in his country, and he was known for becoming one of the richest criminals in history. But now, it appears that we can add a further, far more unlikely string to his biography – that of the ecologist. After the cocaine kingpin was shot dead in 1993, many of the exotic animals he brought into his grounds were taken to zoos with the exception of four wild hippos. These hippos repopulated to become a population of 80 in Colombia’s rivers, leading to their reputation as invasive pests. But a new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences challenges this view.

These animals may also restore ecological functions that were lost for thousands of years due to human-driven extinction

The so-called ‘cocaine hippos’ were accused of wreaking havoc on the local ecosystem, but the scientists argue that these animals may also restore ecological functions that were lost for thousands of years due to human-driven extinction. Although they may not be native to Colombia, what matters it their biological role within the country’s ecosystem – as a herbivore species, with a large size and an equivalent habitat, it echoes extinct counterparts like the mammoth and the giant sloth. The researchers have found that modern-day invasive species have restored parts of ecosystems not seen since before humans began driving the widespread extinctions of megafauna.

Creatures that have wound up a far way from their evolutionary homes are simply stepping into the ecological gap left by animals that have gone extinct

Thus, creatures that have wound up a far way from their evolutionary homes are simply stepping into the ecological gap left by animals that have gone extinct. As well as these hippos, examples include camels in Australia and feral horses in the Americas. Although they may not necessarily ‘fit’, the type of creature isn’t important so much as its characteristics and what it does. Evolutionarily, a species may not belong to a particular environment, but it may still fulfil a certain role and thus belong in an ecological capacity. The water buffalo is an example of an invasive species, but it helps contribute to tree growth and reduce wildfires, both necessary roles in its new habitat.

Study co-author John Rowan, Darwin Fellow in organismic and evolutionary biology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst: “While we found that some introduced herbivores are perfect ecological matches for extinct ones, in other cases, the introduced species represents a mix of traits seen in extinct species. For example, the feral hippos in South America are similar in diet and body size to extinct giant llamas, while a bizarre type of extinct mammal – a notoungulate – shares with hippos large size and semiaquatic habitats. So, while hippos don’t perfectly replace any single extinct species, they restore parts of important ecologies across several species.”

Feral hippos in South America are similar in diet and body size to extinct giant llamas

The study goes against a standard view that invasive species are necessarily negative for an ecosystem. The faeces produced by Escobar’s hippos has been accused of polluting lakes, but co-author Erick Lundgren explains that it has also played a “keystone role in boosting fishery productivity” in Africa. As Lundgren told the Guardian: “The word ‘invasive’ doesn’t really leave any room for organisms that do something that’s beneficial for another species. ‘Invaders’ don’t really help anything. And with that kind of anthropomorphic branding, you end up with a very limited range of research questions that are usually asked.”

Rowan acknowledges that this new report may cause some controversy in biological circles for the way it challenges the status quo, but he hopes that it will encourage people to consider the long-term factors of an invasive species when assessing its influence. This does not mean we should play down the role of invasive species, but considering them as solely negative may prove highly fallacious. Speaking to Newsweek, he said: “Hopefully it ignites a debate on entrenched views in conservation biology and encourages folks to ‘take the long view’ when thinking about biodiversity’s past, present and future. All we need is an open mind and a little creativity.”

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