Colombia plans to sterilize, deport, and kill Pablo Escobar's feral hippos that are running rampant
Raul Arboleda/Getty Images
- Wild hippos descended from Pablo Escobar's illegal collection are breeding out of control.
- Four escaped his private zoo after the drug lord died in a shootout in 1993.
- Now Colombia plans to sterilize, deport, and kill some of the hippos to get the herd under control.
When the Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar died in a shootout in 1993, his private zoo was abandoned — with four hippopotamuses inside.
Decades later, descendants of the kingpin's pets won't stop breeding and are running wild in Colombia's main river, the Magdalena.
Don't worry: Colombia has a plan.
Starting next week, conservation authorities with the Colombian government will start sterilizing, deporting, and killing the hippos to get the invasive species under control.
In March, the Colombian government announced it would deport 70 hippos that lived near Escobar's former Hacienda Nápoles ranch.
New efforts to get the herd under control won't be cheap. Susana Muhamad, Colombia's environment minister, said it could cost about $9,800 per hippo to sterilize them, the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported.
"We must clarify that this is not the only strategy, nor would it be sufficient, we could not control the population with sterilization alone," Muhamad said, according to the outlet.
BBC reported that some of the hippos will be transferred to zoos outside the country. Officials said that other, unluckier ones will be euthanized.
Escobar first illegally brought the "cocaine hippos" to his private zoo in the 1980s. The now-rampant species multiplied thanks to the lush conditions similar to those in its native Africa, the abundant food supply, and the lack of natural predators. It turns out Colombia's natural wildlife doesn't have an answer to a hippo.
Last year, the Colombian government declared the hippos an invasive species, and they now threaten both the local ecosystem and residents.
Hippos are among the most dangerous animals on earth and kill more people each year than sharks.