Colombia Enacts Plan to Deal With Pablo Escobar's 'Cocaine Hippos'

Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar was the proud owner of four hippopotamuses during his life, but after his death in 1993, the exotic animals roamed his abandoned estate and began reproducing freely. As a result, three decades later, government officials have been working to contain the country's growing hippo population, which now stands at around 170. 

Experts have decided to pursue a more humane way of getting the population growth under control: sterilization. According to The New York Times, Colombian officials announced a plan to sterilize some of the hippos, though they haven't closed the door on the possibility of euthanizing or relocating some to sanctuaries in other countries. So far, four hippos have already been surgically sterilized, and there are plans to send a large portion of them to other places like India, the Philippines, and Mexico. 

The vigorous three-pronged approach will hopefully help curb population growth, which officials estimate could grow to 1,000 by 2035. Colombia's environmental minister Susana Muhamad emphasized in a statement that "all three strategies have to work together" in order for the mission to be a success. 

"Here we are in a race against time in terms of the permanent environmental and ecosystem impacts that are being generated and that is why we cannot say that only one strategy is effective for our objective, which is to control the population," she said, per 9News. 

Hippos have been declared an invasive species as a result of the animals running rampant in the country. The "cocaine hippos," as they've become known in other places, have become somewhat of a local mascot despite their exotic status. But even their most ardent fans likely wouldn't want to cross paths with one having a bad day.