A hippopotamus that has been roaming loose in a swampy area of southern Mexico has been caught and transported to a zoo.
Mexico’s office for environmental protection said Tuesday that experts had lured the 1,320-pound (600 kilogram) animal into a cage after issuing a call “asking for the help of the community, to allow specialists to do their job and capture and transfer Tyson.”
Residents of Las Choapas in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz had nicknamed the hippo Tyson after it appeared nearby.
Nobody knows where it came from, but hippos are not native to the country. Townspeople apparently resisted efforts to trap the animal, which authorities said could pose a danger to the public and native species.
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Authorities say they’re worried about a hippopotamus that is roaming loose in a swampy area of southern Mexico.
Nobody knows where the animal came from, but hippos are not native to the country. The hippo appears to have been living in a pair of ponds near Las Chopas, in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz.
Mexico’s office for environmental protection said Thursday that experts are looking for the best way to trap and move the three-year-old, 1,320-pound (600 kilogram) mammal. It also said hippos can be aggressive, posing a potential danger to the public and native species.
The hippo was first spotted by local media near a garbage dump in January. Residents of the town have come to love the animal so much they have nicknamed it “Tyson.”
