Pablo Escobar's hippos continue to breed, and Colombia is considering killing them

The drug baron purchased several hippos for the zoo he built from the cocaine money, but their numbers have skyrocketed since it was liquidated in 1993.

Due to fears of harm to local wildlife and fishermen, the government has declared them an "invasive species", and experts say their death may be the only reasonable option

News agencies

07/02/2022

Monday, 07 February 2022, 08:49 Updated: 09:21

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Their population is likely to grow fourfold in a decade.

Hippos swimming in a park in the Escobar estate (Photo: GettyImages)

More than a hundred hippos, the descendants of a few lone hippos imported by drug lord Pablo Escobar, face an unknown future in Colombia.

The government on Friday added the "cocaine" hippopotamus to the list of invasive species, and experts say killing them may be the only reasonable option.

About 130 hippos are now roaming free north of Bogota, in the Magdalena River area, away from the "Naples estate" to which Escobar brought their parents as pets.

Authorities say the huge mammals, which originate in Africa, are threatening local wildlife and residents living along the river, with whom clashes have already been recorded.

Authorities have tried to sterilize the animals, which can weigh up to 1.8 tons, but are an expensive and complicated procedure.

"The (dead) sacrifice is an option left on the table," said David Achebury, head of the Environmental Protection Agency responsible for the sterilization efforts.

"It's a necessary option,

Escobar, who headed Median's murderous drug cartel, became one of the richest people in the world thanks to the drug trade empire he built and set up a zoo on his estate.

After it was eliminated by the police in 1993, all the animals were sold to the zoos, except for hippos, which continued to breed on the estate until they became the largest hippopotamus population outside of Africa.

The herbivorous marine mammals created a prolonged headache for the authorities, who encountered a vocal campaign against their extinction.

On Friday, the government officially declared them an invasive species and announced a plan to "manage" their population, which according to a study could quadruple within a decade.

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"What's the alternative?"

Fishermen pass hippos in Rio Magdalena (Photo: GettyImages)

Although the details of the plan were not disclosed, former Environment Minister Manuel Rodriguez urged the government to use all means, including a permit to hunt them.

"Of course there are animal activists who oppose this, but what is the alternative?" He asked.

To date, the Environmental Protection Agency has been able to sterilize 11 hippos and inject contraceptives into 40 others using arrows.

The effort cost more than a hundred thousand dollars, but it failed to stop their population growth.

"Everything with hippos is complex, expensive and dangerous," Achebury told AFP.

For Rodriguez, the animals pose a major threat to fishermen and other residents living on the banks of the river.

Last year, two attacks by hippos against humans were reported, though they were not fatal.

In Africa, hippos kill hundreds of people every year.

"We may face tragedy," Rodriguez warned.

also,

Earlier this year, animal rights activists, backed by Luis Domingo Gomez, the Green Party's candidate for parliament, proposed creating a shelter for hippos funded by public and private funds.

However, experts reject the proposal as expensive and no less harmful to the local ecosystem.

"Are we going to maintain a shelter for hippos attacking the river dachshund?"

Rodriguez asked.

Biologist Natalie Castelblanko, an expert on river dachshunds, said local animals should be given priority.

"Species species have priority over conservation over invasive species," she wrote on Twitter.

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