Audrey Huse News Today

The Colombian government started its efforts in curbing the population of the cocaine hippos that started with drug kingpin's Pablo Escobar imports.

Colombia started sterilizing descendants of hippos illegally brought to the country by late drug kingpin Pablo Escobar in the 1980s.

After Pablo Escobar's death, the so-called "cocaine hippos" were left to roam freely and environmental authorities have been helpless to curb their numbers.

A pair of jaguars discovered in a cage on a ranch exposed a cruel new fashion among Ecuador's drug kingpins.

A pair of jaguars discovered in a cage on a ranch exposed a cruel new fashion among Ecuador's drug kingpins.

"There are about 35 children playing that could approach them and provoke a tragedy," said an official from the local environment authority.

"Hippos are unpredictable, at any moment they can attack a person," a local biologist said.

In the 1980's, the Colombian drug kingpin imported just four hippos from Africa — and now there are nearly 150 of them.