By ashley nash baltazar
Becoming an endangered species sounds like the end of the road for some creatures. However, animal welfare groups hope that by joining this list, hippos will be saved.
The hunting of hippos, like elephants and rhinos, is widespread throughout Africa. The pygmy, found in West Africa, is already endangered. The number of common hippos, mostly found in sub-Saharan Africa, is in the few hundreds.
At roughly 5,000 lbs. with a gallop speed of almost 20 miles, hippos are extremely territorial. Locals have begun to pave new crops, due to droughts caused by climate change. Hippos encroach and are hunted.
Their rich and tasty flesh can yield over 1,000 lbs. of meat feeding a whole community and garnering profits at the local market. Locals don't believe is wasting anything.
American governments are being asked to increase protections for hippos under the Endangered Species Act. The United States is the top global importer of hippo parts.
Products like leather, skulls and teeth are still being sold and purchased legally within America and around the world.
Hippos are easily hunted, especially in the water. Visiting sport shooters use nail-spiked wood and wire snares to catch their prey, causing a fatal infection. Thousands of hippos are killed annually.
Hippo teeth have been used to make a low-quality elephant ivory substitute sold to small businesses and throughout the international market.
Unlike the hippos in West and sub-Saharan Africa, those located in Colombia are said to see an increase in population. Four were smuggled into Dallas, Texas in the '80s by infamous exporter Pablo Escobar.
Escobar smuggled the animals in an effort to populate his personal wildlife park. The most recent count of over 170 hippos is said to grow to over 1,000 by 2035. To protect the country's ecosystem, Colombia plans to sterilize the animals.